Most of us fear the declination or deterioration of our physical appearance (our body) and will do anything to prevent it from happening, even if it means sacrificing our inner world which is a major pillar in our life.
How pathetic: we care much more about the state and level of perfection of our physical bodies but don’t care a bit or as much for our inner world, a great gift that can guide our soul, our eternal spirit.
Although both reality and experience prove that, without the spirit, the body would be dead and remain dead, a good number of us behave as if the spirit would be dead without the body. In fact, we treat the body as if it is the beginning and end of life. Well, reality proves the direct opposite.
Our spending habits—which include the energy, time, and money we invest in certain activities—reveal our true priorities and show where the bulk of our allegiance clearly lies.
Make a quick comparison between how much (time, money, and concentration) you spend on your external appearance, and how much you also expend on developing your inner world. Is the ratio or proportion between them healthy?
Or, is the ratio between the two so unhealthy that you find it difficult to justify spending on personal growth (developing your inner world) but find it easy to invest everything in your superficial external appearance?
How would it help in the long run if you successfully work on your external appearance, perfect it and become full of it, but you—on the other hand—remain shallow or empty on the inside (the inner world) because you were complacent or didn’t work on it a bit or nearly as much?
Considering how much weight our inner world actually holds in the scheme of life, it sounds odd, but not surprising, that many people around the world spend countless amounts of time, money, and concentration on improving their external appearance through the use of cosmetics, supplements, expensive clothes, plastic surgery, and other procedures.
On the other hand, the same people spend little to nothing of their time, money, and concentration on improving their inner world, talents, and abilities which can greatly direct and define their destinies.
To avoid blips in destiny, it’s important to spend your time, money, and concentration on developing your inner world as much as or more than you would on your external appearance or physical body.
Isn’t it wiser to spend time more developing self-restraint against unnecessary spending, than to spend it on feeding or excesses without restraint, only to later end up struggling to fix all issues that are products of unnecessary spending?
In many instances, instead of buying another expensive pair of jeans, is it not more intelligent and more profitable to spend time and money on an inexpensive book that can lighten up your path and drastically change your inner world and life.
Nobody may even notice how well you are developing internally, but it doesn’t matter because, in the long run, everyone who really takes notice will eventually realize that you’re more valuable than someone who is always noticed and praised for buying new clothes, even though they are deteriorating on the inside as they continue on the path of inner complacency, instead of following the path of self-growth.
Motivation & Environment 