Glasses Of Life

It all starts because we have a vision impairment.

We get asked if we have really have vision impairments or if the glasses on our faces are a fashion statement or accessory.

No, they are a necessity.

And when we wear them:

• We have to wipe the fog off when it’s warm or wet

• We get lost behind a veil of smudge. Don’t let any sales rep tell you differently- they are not smudge proof.

• Once we wear them, we have to stay committed to them all day since they ruin our makeup.

• We suffer injury on the bridge of our nose

• We can’t lie in bed on our sides to read

• We have a constant, pinching pain behind our ears

• We feel them slide down when we bend over

• We feel them slide up when you lean back

• We learn the hard way they are not foot or butt resistant

• We are expected to let everyone try them on

• We give ourselves whiplash as soon as children are placed in our arms so they can’t grab them

• We lose them and then sometimes we have to replace them even when they aren’t lost at this little inconvenient thing called an annual check-up.

But when we wear them all these things matter not, because we can read, walk without tripping; we can stop (we may choose not to) at red lights and we can experience life with our vital fifth sense.

And so goes the same with the glasses of life.

When we wear the metaphoric glasses of life, we are enabled to see things clearly. It may be through listening to a friend, slowing down, speeding up, traveling abroad, staying at home, thinking outside the box.

The pain that comes along with it, like the smudges, are worth it when what we envision from afar is suddenly close. When what was near or far sighted suddenly becomes a tangible success.

It’s just a matter of if you’re willing to wear the glasses. You see, when a vision impaired individual slips on their glasses, they do so knowing they are being compared to the trendsetters.

When the envisioned impaired decide to challenge themselves and wear the glasses of life, they might be compared to the trendsetters of life.

Speed up, slow down, travel abroad, stay at home, think outside the box: Others may be doing the same, and you may be called a copycat. It doesn’t matter because we can all look at the same thing, but what we see won’t be the same thing.

So, no matter what people think of you or say, never let the smudge keep you from wearing your glasses. Never let a vision impairment keep you from seeing. From living.