Beauty Is Skin Deep

Why 'autoimmune diseases' are sometimes invisible. 
A few Mondays ago my eyes acted up from the autoimmune process. I had to be taken by a dear friend to my eye doctor who has also performed "needle in the eye" (quite literally) surgeries on me. He is a very good doctor, which is hard for me to say because I hate doctor visits and will avoid them like the plague, so to speak. He is all business. But this day, as he looked into his 'enlarging lens' he said "Your skin is impeccable. So fresh not a wrinkle or mark. It's flawless." This was unusual for him, that's why I comment on it. I wasn't wearing makeup; never do and I'm used to these comments. Though I appreciate them I take them with a wry sense of irony.

Let me explain. I think the people who say these things are very kind, but I don't take it personally. As I see it, if you looked just beyond the skin, they wouldn't be saying it. The comment "beauty is skin deep" applies here. Not in the usual sense. I hold strong my beliefs in being true to yourself and others. loving others as yourself, et al. But just beyond the surface of this serene scape there is a war in full battle. All I can say to these kind-commenting-acquaintances is, "Thank you, that's very kind of you" and move on thinking, "If only they could see inside of me." Such is the autoimmune world. Many times you do not see it. So think again when you judge the skin of someone, good or ill. There is often something that person is battling with that you cannot see.