a beautiful life.

I was watching TV this afternoon and a commercial came on advertising a medical facility that does "body surgery," otherwise known as plastic surgery. Their procedure seek to alter things about yourself that you do not like. Their slogan is that their procedures will "lead to a more beautiful life." They basically promise you that the a beautiful life can be attained if you can attain outward beauty-if you can alter the things about the outside of yourself that you do not like. This struck me because I just finished reading Donald Miller's new book and he addesses this very issue- how advertising is just a manipulation of story. First, they make you see that you are not content or that your life is not complete. Second, they show you how their product is the solution to your empty, incomplete life and that if you buy it will fulfill your dreams. We fall for this all of the time. If we were to just stop and analyze this idea for only a moment we would realize how ridiculous this is. Can plastic surgery really lead to a "beautiful life." Will outward attractiveness translate into a lifelong journey that is full of beauty and fulfillment? I know a lot of very unhappy attractive people. I know a lot of attractive people that live ugly, miserable and empty lives. And what is even more interesting is that some of the most outwardly beautiful people in the world are not satisfied with their outward attractiveness. Michael Jackson had countless surgeries to make him more beautiful on the outside and though many would argue he made "beautiful" music, I think few would advocate he lived a beautiful life.

Wanting a beautiful life is a wonderful thing. A plastic surgery facility (or any company for that matter) hijacking this human desire and manipulating your feelings so that we will buy into something false and they will get rich is the ugly thing. We want it to be simple and it is not. We want someone to say, "here is a remote, press that button and your life will be what you have always dreamed it would be." It is just not that simple. The beauty of life is that it is a journey. It is not the destination, but everything in between that is life. I have a feeling a beautiful life is much more dependent on the quality of your inward life than on the quality of your outward appearance. I have a feeling that most of us miss the most beautiful moments in our lives because we are too busy looking to a destination or for a quick fix. No product will EVER equal quality of life. A beautiful life is something that can't be bought-it must be lived. Read Donald Miller's new book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years if you get a chance. It will really make you think and hopefully change the way you (I) live life.