I have a tiny house.
It’s so tiny, whenever I open the refrigerator door, you’d think I installed centralized air-conditioning in my house.
But when I built it 12 years ago, I determined that no matter how small it was, it was going to be pretty. Like I wanted the walls to be covered with red bricks to give them that rustic, country look. So I asked my contractor if that was possible.
“Sure,” he said, but he asked me, “Do you want new bricks or old bricks?” That one question introduced me to a world that I didn’t know existed.
“What kind of creatures are old bricks?” I inquired.
“They’re forty-year old bricks that have been used in old homes. These old bricks are discolored and deformed and disfigured with age. In other words, they’re ugly.”
“If they’re cheaper I’ll take them!”
My contractor laughed. “The old bricks are three times more expensive than the new ones.”
My jaw dropped. I couldn’t believe my ears.
He explained. “The new bricks are so perfect and uniform, they’re boring. The old and ugly bricks on the other hand have charm and character.”
“Wow. The last time I heard the words charm and character, they were descriptions of boyfriends and girlfriends.”
Needless to say, I was so intrigued by these old bricks, I decided to blow my budget and splurge. “Alright, give me the old bricks!” I announced to my contractor.
“Good choice!” he said. “They cost one thousand pesos per square meter. How many shall you order?”
My jaw dropped again. I began to compute on my calculator and told him my answer as confidently as I could say it. “Give me twelve bricks.”
“Twelve square meters?” my contractor asked.
“Uh no… twelve pieces. That’s all I can afford right now.”
The following week, my twelve bricks arrived.
They were ugly all right. Discolored, misshapen, broken, pock-marked, deformed, and disfigured. One of them even had graffiti on it. But after the mason plastered them on the wall, they were exquisitely beautiful. Charm and character written all over my wall.
Who said these bricks were ugly?
People.
And who said these bricks were beautiful?
People.
Why?
Because of the power of labels.
Because beauty is always in the eye of the beholder.
Because you and I have the power to impute beauty on anything under the sun.
So next time you look at a glossy fashion magazine that tells you that you’re ugly because your eyebrows aren’t plucked, or your skin is crater-filled, or your waist measurement is more than your IQ–don’t believe it. Because you become the labels you give yourself.
If you declare you’re beautiful–not despite your imperfections, but because of them–then you are.
Don’t believe me?
Visit my beautiful tiny home with the twelve bricks.
I’ll even open the refrigerator door for you.
May your dreams come true,
Bo Sanchez
PS. Start your own business. But before you start your business, I strongly suggest you join to the TrulyRich Entrepreneur Workshop on August 9 and 16. You’ll save a lot of problems, pain, and pesos! For more information on the TrulyRich Entrepreneur Workshop, click the link below:
I Want To Learn How To Start A Business–Teach Me How!
