A Tribute to beauty

A Tribute to Beauty
By William H. White, Jr.

What can be said about a beautiful woman that has not been said before? Mountains of poetry have been written about her. Wars have been fought over her. She has been immortalized in paintings and sculptures since time began. She has captured the imagination of man since the Garden of Eden. Yet in all those years and writings the true essence of a beautiful woman has never been captured
The affect that a beautiful woman can have on a man is a strange and wondrous thing. She can push him to places he never knew existed or take him to where he wished he had never been. She can take an otherwise intelligent and eloquent man and turn him into a jabbering idiot. In short she can make him or break him.
The more of these angelic creatures I meet the more I am aware of the frailty of manhood. Woman may be considered to be the weaker sex, but that is an entirely incorrect assumption. Women, far from being weaker, are able to inspire or destroy those of us who are men. We have little or no defense from her wiles. Our willingness as men to be blinded by these fair beings leads us to heights of previously unknown ecstasy, or blundering into one difficulty to another. The trappings of external beauty are, by far, the most treacherous waters for a man to tread. After all the years since the Garden of Eden you would think that we males would have learned out lesson, but we haven’t.
In the Bible, King David was brought to ruin by Bathsheeba. Samson was defeated by Delilah’s treachery. All of Greek mythology is filled with beautiful sirens, mermaids, princesses and goddesses causing the ruination of the men around them. Yet still we fall again and again for these angels on earth. But is external attraction the defining point of beauty, or is true beauty something more than that?
Someone said that, “Beauty is only skin deep”, and however true that is – it is the skin that first causes mans pulse to race and mind to fog. But if we go past the surface, if we delve into what makes a woman truly beautiful, what will we find? Too many physically beautiful women are shallow and only wanting to use their looks for their benefit. However, a truly beautiful woman has no real idea as to her beauty. She is more than the sum of her looks. Not a trophy to be held up and admired, but a woman of true strength and intellect. She can hold he own in any situation. She doesn’t crumble in the face of adversity.
She may not be the strongest of creatures physically, but underneath that physical frailty is a person of substance. She has fears and shortcomings, but she never stops trying to overcome them. Her goal in life is not to have things, but to be something, to make something of herself beyond her looks. She can guide those around her and make decisions correctly. She may allow herself to be held by a man, but never held back by him. She may submit to him, but she never stops being herself because if him.
To that lucky man she is everything. She is the reason he exists. His job is only a means to support her and show her his affection. She makes him better at every thing he does and supports him even when he falls. She is not a crutch for him to lean on, but a springboard for action.
A truly beautiful woman can cause a man to achieve things he never thought possible. He never ceases to be proud of her. She may falter and fail at times, but she never quits going forward. She gives him reason to support her and never leave her. She is the world in a wondrous wrapper, the best of all things and the worst of some things. She doesn’t need a man to carry her, but her world is better for it when a man correctly treats her and loves her.
In our world of superficial displays and selfish personalities we have lost sight of what true beauty is. Physical attraction fades with age. Looks leave and only the true essence of a person remains, and a truly beautiful woman still is beautiful. She stands the test of time and surpasses all others. In the Bible her price is said to be, “far above rubies.” She is that priceless pearl that makes the world a better place to live. Nothing can detract from her beauty. Her lasting impact on her surrounds makes even those who don’t know her to love her.
These truly beautiful women are few and far between in modern times, but if we search hard enough, and in the right places, she can still be found. And when she is discovered she is the most precious discovery ever. They say that behind every successful man there is a woman, but I say that in front of every truly happy man there is a truly beautiful woman.