I Am Beautiful

Why do people shy away from making statements like that? Because they don't believe that they are?

What makes a person attractive to another? Not only in the romantic sense, but generally. Is it values that another appreciates as she or he has the same ones? Or is it because of the total difference between two people?

For me, personally *ahem*, I think things that draw me to people are the things that I look for in life. Laughter, cheer, happiness. So I tend to search for people who make me laugh. And I also seek guidance. That makes me drawn to people who can be kids in one moment, yet know when to be an adults when the situation calls for it. Most of my friends more or less fit this mold.

Are there only certain people who are attractive? We have those who breeze through life, oozing charisma, pulling people towards them like a magnet does nails. Then you have the wallflowers, those who seem to blend in the background, not to say that they repel people. But then again, the very fact that we notice the these things about them proves that there is something that compels us to do so. Does that not also mean they're attractive?

So, is being attractive inborn? I think attractiveness is a perception. And how do we get perceptions? Through social conditioning, mostly. People who live within the same area generally have the same idea of what makes a person attractive, with little deviation from one person to the next.

How, then, to get the attention of those around you? How to exude magnetism? All you have to do is believe that you are. Attractiveness is as much an attitude towards yourself as it is another's perception of you. I have read surveys that people have done answering an interesting question : Are you attractive? And most people answer with a no, or something along those lines : "I don't think so", "Maybe", "Why don't you ask my friends?". We are taught to be modest, yes, but modesty, to me, doesn't mean belittling yourself. It means seeing yourself as how you are, truthfully. Everyone HAS to think that there's something in them that attracts people. Because, the very fact that they answer these surveys, and post them publicly, is for everybody else to read them, with the idea that people WANT to read about them. And what makes these people want to? Attraction (Yes, even curiosity is a form of attraction). So go ahead. Lift your chin up and say, "Yes, I AM Beautiful".