Riddle Me This

I’m life coach and quizzer Peter Winslow, here with a puzzler you may find amusing. See if you know the answer:

You can’t fake it, but you can certainly hide it. You can’t buy or sell it, yet it is truly priceless.

When you display it, everyone wants it; you can't see it directly, but everyone recognizes it. And when you have it, you are much loved and often pursued for it. What is it?

Most people will chime in with answers like love, wisdom, or happiness. Some come to conclusions like integrity, compassion, character, honor, dignity, passion, altruism, and more along these lines. So, who is correct?

It seems to me that everyone is. And what do all their inferences have in common? We could say that they all demonstrate the qualities of what can be called “inner beauty.” So, what is inner beauty and more to the point—have you got it?

You have met people who seem to be overflowing with gratitude, poise, charm and other qualities of inner beauty. So, what was it about them you most admired? This is recognition of your own beauty, because we are not able to recognize subtle qualities in others which we ourselves do not possess.

As your inner light grows, you become more radiant on the outside. You look and feel healthier, happier, more vibrant and alive, brimming with passion and substance. You even become what we might call magnetically attractive.

The reward is much more than you imagine. It includes communion with the very source of life itself, and the ability to bring authentic love into this world. People then recognize their own inner beauty reflected in you, and that, my friend, is the definition of true love: the recognition of oneself in another.

 – Peter Winslow