Life and Death

Recently I have become slightly addicted to watching episodes of Bones (I'm finally caught up to season 5 ^^).  Last night as I was watching it I was struck by the idea of death and eventual decay of the body.  Every body that is examined in Bones is pretty horribly mangled, decayed, or just a pile of bones.  Because of my strong aversion to blood and anything gross I usually turn my head when the body being examined is shown on screen.  And I realized how important beauty and shapely bodies are to people.  And yet, we all end up looking pretty awful and disgusting after death.  Obviously that thought is not very comforting, but it is true nonetheless.  People spend some much time obsessing over their looks and striving so hard to be considered "beautiful" by today's standards.  Yet, that will all eventually fade away.  But what will not fade away is the impression and impact we have on people.  Unless a person is pretty insanely overweight, after their death people will likely forget the exact shape of their body; but what they will not forget is a kind heart and loving spirit.  Why is it that people strive so hard to look good on the outside and make an impression on people with their looks, yet they put not even half of that effort into making their heart beautiful?  That is what will really last.  After the body has been reduced to dust, the memory of a person's heart, attitude, and spirit will live on.