New Eyes

I read this quote today:

"Intelligence isn't a virtue, it's a quality. It's like hair color, or height: it earns you absolutely nothing. If you think that's all you are, you are trading on a seriously devalued currency, because you're wrong. There are more important things inside people. It's up to us to find them."

It doesn't matter where it comes from. Okay, it was from Jacob on TWOP in a recap of American Idol last night. Doesn't make it any less true.

I know a lot of people who have put their own value and placed value on others based on qualities (athleticism, intelligence, beauty).

Let's be clear.
Athleticism is not hard work. It is not dedication. It is not loyalty and determination. It is a certain amount of natural grace and an innate understanding of the mechanics of sport.

Intelligence does not equal educated. It does not indicate a desire to learn. It is not proof of curiosity. It is merely the ability to absorb new information and ideas quickly.

Beauty is entirely subjective and no matter what, always flawed.

They are qualities that people have no control over (with I suppose the exception being plastic surgery), yet we treat them as something valued and something they earned.

I guess my point is that I call bullshit. We might as well be judging others on toe length or, oh let's say, skin color. Most of the people (I know of) who read this blog would never judge someone based on the color of their skin, but I think most of us have called someone a moron in disgust or shied away from someone because they were kind of, well, gross.

There are virtues that are more difficult to come by, that take longer to develop and are hard to ascertain upon acquaintance.

Kindness, the true kind that you show towards everyone, not the fake kind that you turn on and off
Generosity, the kind that comes from the spirit and has no strings attached and no expectations
Compassion, the kind that allows you to put yourself in another person's shoes to understand them in a primarily non-judgmental way
Integrity, easy to claim, difficult to live
etc.

I'm not trying to preach. I'm as guilty as anybody else of judging people based on qualities they have no control over, rather than the choices they've made to sculpt who they've become. Who am I kidding? I don't go to the gym 7 days a week because I only care about my health.

Life is complicated. People are complicated. I don't have any conclusions about this issue or any plan of action to take now. But, I think it's something I'm going to have to think about for awhile and for starters, I think maybe I've been letting it be simple for too long.