How could you improve your personality?  Some people believe you could do so by attending to their personal needs.  They think that they must dress well.  The religiously minded might wear a necklace with a cross dangling on their chest.  Others pay attention if their hair is black, brown, or blond?  And some make sure they are well-groomed.  Without a doubt dress is beautiful and appealing to their admirers.  However there’s a lot more than appearance if you wish to be the best.  You ought to invest in having a well-rounded education.  A good education leads to emotional, intellectual, and physical development.  Being kind and courteous are good qualities to have.  You might view your personality as having a mask of different colors.  Ezra Pound’s Personnae (1909) literally means “masks of actor,” because people are actors on the world’s stage.

People are nevertheless imperfect.   As they work on improving themselves they find they are dogged by weaknesses.  It’s for us to reconsider our attitudes about these defects and view them as gifts.  Try not to be overly worried, but accept your imperfections for what they are.  Maybe you have an addiction.  What should you do?  It’s best to recognize your affliction by taking responsibility for it.  You must try seeking treatment for this disease.  If it’s alcoholism join Alcoholic Anonymous, and confront your disease.  You should share your story as blessings in disguise, and work at melting away its stigma.  This negative gift that was regarded with dread might well be the catalyst for helping others.

A Deeper Understanding

 Through afflictions religious believers have been known to develop a deeper love and understanding of God, Allah, Brahma, and Dao.  Through inspiration people mature in their faith.  Often cancer patients minister to suffering patients at hospitals.  They have found their afflictions as a stepping stone to a unique vocation.  And their outlook becomes more than just coping with an ailment.  An affliction is considered depressing, but the sufferer sees it as a conduit to a valuable ministry.  It’s only right to support the patient in their new role.  Their service brings hope, encouragement, and strengthens the vulnerable.

There are some who view having imperfections as a major problem.  A comedian and actor Carrie Snow said, “Technology … is a queer thing.  It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other.”  Was Carrie referring to the problems of the mass communication system?  Through the mass media, viewers learn about opinion leaders. But after a while their names might be dragged through dirt by some commentators who had praised them.  In life people are presented with the good, bad, and ugly, but the wise learn from them.  Technology whether radio, TV, cable, or the Internet has its imperfections, but should still be viewed as good gifts.  From birth, people are blessed with a myriad of gifts.  Even brain-damaged children share blessings with us.  Tramps that are belittled have gifts that are also valuable.  Why don’t people do away with anxieties they nurture about the afflicted?  Why become upset about situations that can’t be controlled? In life there are struggles, but people are blessed with persistence to see them through.  It’s for us to promote good values and morals in our world.