I broke my glasses and it made me smile.
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After that, I taped them together. My daughter thought it was funny that her father was aTape Nerd. Then I used Guerilla Glue to create a more permanent bond and they broke again. It was at that point that I knew my four year relationship with my glasses was over.
At last I will get a new vision.
I made a trip to see my Optometrist for a check up from the neck up. The machines he used to see into my eyes looked like James Bond gadgets. I wondered if the x-ray could see into my soul?
Then he put some yellow drops in my eyes and my eyes peed. You know you are old when your eyes pee.
He told me that I need some new vision. Then he gave me a paper with some numbers:
– 1.50, -.050, 120 and +1.75, +1.75
I have no idea what the numbers mean so I added them up. The numbers total 121.75, which is probably the Optometrist’s way of saying I have average intelligence (IQ) and average vision (EyeQ). Thanks Doc.
Armed with my prescription for a new vision, my wife and I went shopping. I must have tried on 700 pairs of glasses. Nothing worked, until we went to Starbucks. It is amazing how a fresh cup of coffee can give you a fresh vision. My Optometrist should know that. What he really should have written on that prescription pad was just one word: “Starbucks.” That would have saved me 500 bucks.
Coffee in hand, we continued the search for my new vision. The coffee worked and we found a pair that fit perfectly.
When glasses fit, it feels like you are putting on a new you.
My vision became blurry so gradually that I didn’t notice it. My world was just a little out of focus. I didn’t realize how bad it was until I got a new pair of glasses. As I put the glasses on, I felt like I could see as far asTomorrow. The world suddenly came into focus. Vision can do that, we see past our day to day life and the important things come into focus.
Improving your EyeQ
Some people talk about making a Vision Statement. I think that getting a vision is okay, but I think that having good eyesight is more important. If you know your direction but you are kissing the wrong person or getting head injuries from bumping into things, you should probably talk to your Optometrist (and maybe your Therapist).
Vision is about having good EyeQ. Glasses can’t really change you, but a new EyeQ will. If you are in need of a new EyeQ, here are a few things to try:
- Look in a new direction. New glasses let us see new detail, but they don’t tell uswhere to look. If you want to look in a new direction, try walking backwards or sideways. Reading a novel from another country can do that, or talking to someone with a different life experience. It is incredible how listening to someone’s story can help you to understand your own story.
- Stop moving and start seeing. When things were blurry, I thought it was just because I was in a hurry. My new glasses make me slow down. I appreciate the world more. Vision does not come from eyesight, but from insight. EyeQ is not something we get by living in Fast Forward.
- You look different with new glasses. Just don’t confuse looking differently withseeing differently. Glasses won’t change your mind, only you can do that. Changing a mind is hard work and takes persistence.
- Vision begins with your imagination and it has nothing to do with a vision statement. I have probably made 10 Vision Statements over my life. I probably wasted my time because vision is not a statement. It is about knowing what is life-giving to you and to other people. Ask yourself what did you do today that felt life-giving or energizing to you, or life-giving and edifying to people in your life. Follow that and you will find your vision.
- If you have tried everything else, go to Starbucks. Just go.
You and I may have good eyesight, but does that translate into new insight? Does our vision make us envision?
“You and I have five senses: Smell, taste, sight, touch and hearing. But did you know that you have five uncommon senses: A sense of style, a sense of humor, a sense of direction, a sense of adventure and common sense.”
Keep it real
Originally posted on smswaby. Reprinted with permission.
Photo courtesy of the author