I had the great opportunity to spend some time in Ireland this summer, and while vacationing (or on holiday, as the Irish say), I spent quite a bit of time in Irish Pubs writing, talking, and listening to some great, and not so great, music.
While in the pub, I looked around, and saw that I was the most attractive guy in the pub. Now, personally, I feel that I am of pretty average looks, so noticing this fact, I suddenly had a tremenedous amount of self-confidence, and noticed how this self-confidence came through in my conversations, and how people reacted to me in the pub.
Of course, it was only a day or two later, that I realize that while I thought I was the most attractive guy, that was because, in fact, I was using “American” standards, and applying them to Irish people. However, in truth, from the Irish perspective, I might well have been down-right ugly!
There are a number of lessons that we can learn from this, but I’ll focus on the fact that we often get in the way of our true self shining through, since our lack of self-confidence gets in the way. So by getting out of the way of ourself, we can actually, truly live, which creates a truly beautiful – and engaging – person.