Aside from being beautiful (which is a big “aside), I’d say “other things” we look for in life (or that hunt us down) are what’s called “normally distributed” among beautiful and not-beautiful. In other words, there’s about same amount of happiness, money, good health, tragedy, addiction, good luck, intelligence and so forth given to beautiful as to any of us. No more; no less. I’ve known two breathtakingly beautiful people who were among two most miserable people I’ve know.

So how is it different being beautiful? According to a recent report from msn.com about beauty and bounty, not surprisingly it appears you‘ll get treated better by your doctor if you’re pretty, you’ll get more attention from your teachers and better grades if you’re pretty, and should that pretty face of yours turn up in court, you’ll get a lighter sentence than your criminal-peer who’s homely.

And in addition, if while in court you’re being defended by partner of firm, who seems exceptionally young to be a partner, chances are he’s handsome! Male lawyers who are handsome make partner earlier, reported Hamermesh and Biddle in “Beauty, Productivity and Discrimination: Lawyers’ Looks and Lucre.” “Lucre,” of course, meaning “money.”

Unfair? Definitely.

In her article about this, “Do Pretty People Earn More?” msn careerbuilder.com editor, Kate Lorenz, gives us data. To remind us of what we kinda already knew. That it helps to be good-looking.

So nothing here to alert press about. Or maybe there is.

When folks who actually do hiring were interviewed, they said in so many words that a pretty face was just another pretty face; they were after something else (besides qualifications, of course). “It is appearance of confidence they find attractive, not presence of physical beauty,” Lorenz found. “And they contend that attractiveness has more to do with how you carry yourself and energy you exude – rather than having perfect features or a great physique.”

One Saturday morning, at age 15, I looked in mirror and was horrified to see a huge, red pimple on my forehead. To a teenager that is a major crisis, especially when half a tube of Clearasil only makes it look worse. Who would have predicted that this zit would teach me a life lesson?

Silly now that I look back on this incident, but at time I was consumed with shame. I even canceled my weekend plans because I didn't want to be seen in public.

So you can imagine my rage when my sister snapped a photo, preserving this ugly image forever. (Lucky for her, she could run faster than me.) And, to add insult to injury, my mother lovingly placed picture in family album!

But it turned out that this was best thing she could have done. During a visit back home 12 years later I was looking through old family albums, and came across "THE photograph," which I recognized instantly from orange dress I had been wearing (and which I never wore again.) Bravely I mustered up courage to examine photo, and to relive humiliation of that abominable zit.

You've probably guessed by now that I had to search pretty hard to see blemish on my face in picture. If I looked very closely, I could detect a small speck on my forehead. It certainly didn't cover my face as I had recalled that it did.

That photo sure put things in focus for me -- and not just in terms of zits.

I instantly realized that by fixating on a single, minor blemish, I had become a self-pitying recluse. For a couple of days I had lost all objectivity, allowing this pimple to take over my life, magnifying its negative impact.

This is precisely what your “inner brat” does. In its immature, self-absorbed way it dwells on what's wrong in your life, distorting negative way out of proportion.