Why Are You Attractive?

What exactly happens when a bomb blows?  I think everyone imagines some of the same things...  It's sudden.  It's explosive.  A lot of bits and pieces tend to fly up and hit whatever happens to be there.  People are hurt.  There may be fire.  There is destruction.  There is usually long lasting damage.  In sum, it's never pretty.  You might say it's very unattractive.

This past Saturday, a middle-aged woman had an emotional blow.  It was like a bomb had gone off, and it was very unattractive.  She was putting dishes in the washer.  She blew, and it was sudden.  It caught the dinner guests off guard.  One guest pointed out decidedly that the party must be over.

Yes, the party was over, but the guests were trapped in the rubble.  Her tirade continued on for over thirty minutes.  Nothing could be done to stop the destruction.  Two of the guests were burned repeatedly.  Like a computer left sitting on a loop of track media, the woman touted over and over that she was so nice.  That was the problem--the guests just couldn't see that.

No, when a bomb goes off, people do not tend to see the beauty in it.  Just like the woman, a bomb may be nicely polished and painted on the outside before it goes off.  Before an explosion, the bomb might even be in some ways attractive.

Why are you attractive?  Do you keep your face nicely polished and painted?  Does this outer attraction lead to false hopes and eventual destruction?  So what is your inner attraction?  What part of you makes another person want to be near you or even bond for life?  Is it your compassion?  Is it your ability to make someone laugh?  Is it your personal talent?  Then again, what comes from the inside that makes you unattractive?  What makes you blow?

We are designed as both attractive and unattractive beings on the outside and on the inside.  For many, that is the difficulty of coping.  With everything you like about a person or situation, something you don't like will come with the package.  Recognizing this in yourself is the first step to healthy coping.  You are attractive in some ways.  In some ways you are also unattractive.  You can't change mother nature.  So what do you do?

Decide why you are attractive and let that part of you shine.  Decide why you are unattractive and talk with people about it.  Figure out a way you and your cohorts can deal with it and then move on.  Sometimes just letting the people around you know you are aware of your own flaws is enough.  And on the days an unexpected bomb blows, help clean it up.