“How do you define yourself?” asks Lizzie Velasquez, a woman who is afflicted with a rare, unnamed disease that prevents her from gaining weight.

Velasquez gave an inspiring TED Talk in late December 2013, talking about her life, her struggles, and how she has dealt with adversity.

Velasquez was born with a syndrome that prevented her from gaining weight. Throughout her life, she has never weighed more than 64 pounds. Additionally, because of her syndrome, she is blind in her right eye, and her skin appears to be aging rapidly, even though she is only 25 years old.

During her TED Talk, Velasquez discussed something that really made me think: she talked about how people reacted to her physical appearance and how that affected her.

Just the other week I saw an example of how reactions affect others first hand. My little brother was made fun of for wearing glasses. The kids in his fifth grade class decided that glasses aren’t “normal” or “cool,” so they called him names and excluded him from playing tag at recess. When he came home from school and told my family about what had happened, I was appalled. Why would anyone make fun of someone for something they have no control over? And in any case, why are glasses so offensive? Seriously! Sorry that the fact that my brother’s vision isn’t 20/20 offends you.

People hold other people to ridiculously high standards, which, I’m going to assume, they can’t even meet themselves. Often times I hear the same girls who judge people by the way their hair looks complain about being judged for not having enough clothing from Urban Outfitters. It all boils down to the same issue, why do we care more about what people look like than what their personality is like? I think Velasquez would agree, what’s on the inside of a person is much more important than what you see on the outside.

People are just people. They’re not always going to look perfect. Do you have time every day to put on your makeup, or shave your facial hair, or iron your clothes? Probably not. The same goes for people with physical deformities or mental disabilities – they’re just people. They can’t do anything about the things they were born with. But if you overlook people’s physical appearances, you never know what kind of wonderful people you might meet.

We’ve all heard the saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” Although this is especially relevant in Velasquez’s case, I think it applies to everyone. You never know what kind of wonderful people you could meet if you get over silly things like how their hair looks or what they’re wearing.

Kaley Martin is an Opinion Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.