The concept of beauty is larger than most people pause to think. We become fixated on the physical concept of beauty and forget about the existence of inner beauty. This is in no small part due to the fact that we, as humans, have an instinctive reaction to prejudge people based on how they appear, but it can lead us to not want to associate with someone. If you think about it a little, most of us have at least one friend that isn’t conventionally attractive, but that remains one of the warmest and happiest people we know. They took the time to accept and love themselves. It shows. This is part of it what it means to cultivate one’s inner beauty. Bitterness just tears both oneself and others down. Furthermore, all the physical beauty in the world won’t do someone much good if they have an awful personality. The concept of inner beauty is by no means no and shouldn’t be treated as a trite “feel good” exercise. It is just as, if not more, important than physical appearance.

Love Yourself
Inner beauty is one of those things that is more apparent when we accept parts of ourselves. We’ve all got aspects of ourself that we’re uncertain on what to think about or that we outright dislike. This makes it harder for us to interact with others and causes other social issues as well. In essence, if you can’t accept the parts of yourself that you don’t like, then it reflects outward towards others. Love of oneself, even one’s faults, helps you to see yourself in others and makes it easier to accept others. This fosters the growth of inner beauty. People feel and respond to this intuitive acceptance. It helps bring people together and makes it easier to form relationships with others at the same. It also benefits your self-perception as well and can help you feel more confident.

Confident Love
Some philosophies state that hatred for the self is where all hate begins. Learning to love yourself makes it easier to ignore unknowing judgments out in the world by increasing your own confidence. Confidence is a desirable trait for many people as well. This increases your perceived inner beauty as well. The confidence equips you to move through a world alongside people who don’t necessarily have the same sort of inner love that you would possess. Confidence helps you be self-possessed and more able to turn your eyes outward. Outward looking perspectives are more likely to reach out to help others as they need help rather than missing the signs that someone is in need. It helps to engender internal growth that simply takes you farther and farther from the inward looking and reclusive way of thought where you end up worrying about only what others think.

Finding Inner Beauty
Inner beauty allows you to be a better you. Cultivating it can be easier said than done given many modern cultures encourage a consistent worry about what others think and always seeking out perceived flaws. You have to learn to be willing to forgive yourself for mistakes and flaws to cultivate it though. The realization that everyone is flawed and doing their best helps immensely when it comes to realizing that people everywhere are just trying to live…just like you. Allowing this simple principle to guide you can take you a long way. It is just one potential way to find a way to forgive and accept yourself and others. You may find you need to take a longer route to find a way to unlearn bad habits society has taught you. Feeling better about yourself will let you spread that sense of self-love and care to others readily.

Inner beauty isn’t a “consolation prize” or something that should be dismissed as important. The Victorians had a cultural idea known as “grotesqueness” that believed that inner and outer beauty were reflected in appearance. This is why we have biases against people who aren’t conventionally attractive in Western culture much of the time. It may be an intuitive idea, but it isn’t mistaken. One’s inner beauty shows outwards and draws people to you while inner ugliness drives people away regardless of appearance.