Beauty. That's the only word that would captivate the eyes of the judgmental human beings.

Beauty. That's what define one's first impressions towards you.

Beauty. That's when in the end, you realize what it truly means.

Let me tell you my story about this haunting word.

It was during a typical swimming tournament. Everyone else was asleep. Tired of waiting for their turn. Too tired to be anxious for their tournament too, I assume. That left the two of us, awake as the whistle blew to indicate the palpitated hearts of the swimmers to increase and to take their mark.

One conversation with an acquaintance of the opposite gender and everything changes.

MeHim

Kau ni selalu riadah ke tak?
Do you exercise that often?

Aku riadah setiap hari lah, petang-petang aku lari berapa round kat maktab
Yes, I do exercise everyday. In the evening, I run a few rounds around the campus.

Cuma aku tak lari padang lah. Sekali tu aku pernah lari pastu lelaki pandang aku pelik..
I guess you can't see me because I don't run around the field. Once, I ran around the field and the guys keep looking at me weirdly.

Alah, kau bukannya lawa sangat pun.
Ngeh, you're not even that pretty. 

I guess he saw the look on my face and said he was just joking.

Haha.

No. You don't just go around and say that and say you were joking.

I may be ugly but I can tell when someone is joking and when they are really saying the truth.

And the guy is the latter.

I guess that's how society is. Confined with the mentality of judging people based on their looks. This is what reality is. When someone blurts out the truth, you just know. That's who you are.

And that's who I really am to them.

Fat. Ugly. Arrogant.

Listen, world.

You don't get to decide who the acquaintance is when you start talking to them. You don't start a conversation with blurting out a nasty comment about other people's look without knowing them first. You just don't.

Because you don't know how the other person feels. You don't have the right to say anything like that. God has made us that way. You only get the right to judge once you know them personally for a very long time.

No, you don't get to tell us that we're this and that because in the end you don't know what you would end up like and you don't know how we will end up.

If you're one of those judgmental people, then stop. Discrimination is never the key. Honesty is right only when you know how to care about other people's feelings.

After that, I live by this saying from my mom,

"They don't define you, YOU define who you are."

In a way though, after the conversation, I couldn't care less on what people think of me. Because hey, they're only hecklers in my life.

Like once this one guy told me to get off the lift since it was overloaded and the only thing I did was show my middle finger and that stopped him and anyone around him to say anything. And I carried on my journey without ever getting off that lift.

I'm not saying you should show a middle finger or curse at that person to deal with rude things like this. However, you have to learn how to be strong because these things are the little things in life you will have to deal with. Instead of these things affecting your life, might as well you brush it off by making a comeback. Show these people you're more than what they think you are. That you're more than their first impressions towards you.

And in the end, you'll find out that you are achieving success not for them, but for you, only.