I See



"Hard Rain" (flickr)

The Walk in the Rain

Baltimore had quite the rain storm on October1, 2010. It rained around 10 inches that day. There were times the visibility was less than 30 feet. At one point at work, the rain was coming down so hard, three out of four roads around where I worked were shut down do to flooding. And because of the havoc it was causing, I felt the need to walk in it.

As I stepped out on my walk I realized my glasses were not going to do any good, So, I folded them up and stuck them on my shirt collar and headed off. As I did, the rain came down harder and I could feel the drops landing on my plastic poncho. It felt amazing! Each drop was like acupuncture and I was enjoying myself more than anyone around me. Even when the rain let up, I felt life was good.

About 2 miles in I realized my glasses were no longer on my shirt collar. I thought I could just back track a little and there they would be. They were no place. So I kept back tracking. Soon I was back at my starting point and still 4 miles from home and no glasses. I walked back home with my head down and my eyes darting back and forth. No glasses. I ended up spending 3 hours out in that rain.

It was all good. My last eye exam was 2003 and my glasses did little good. Everything was blurry with or with out the glasses, but when I took them off, my one eye would squint, so I essentially kept them on because I didn’t want to squint to have bad vision.

The Glasses

I was already planning on replacing them. The next day I set up an eye exam for the following day. Less than 48 hrs after losing my glasses, I strolled in and was given an exam and picked out some frames I liked. (All for $40!)

Last Friday I picked up my glasses. I walked outside and it was then that I realized my vision was so off. I became accustomed to anything more than 20 feet away being blurry. With my new pair of thick black specs, so much more detail was available to me. Instead of colors fading into each other, I could see words. Squinted images were now detailed leaves on a tree.

The Insight

As I site here with my new glasses and my new eye site it gives, it makes me think about the new insights I have gained from some of the wise people who have gone before me and those that are around me now. I can’t help but think about the new and rich details I’ve gained.

Sometimes these people have used words, but most times they have given me insight with their patience or virtue (read last post!) Like with my old glasses, it didn’t dawn on me that I wasn’t seeing things until I could see them. I’m grateful for the vision I’ve been given.

 

Do you have sources of influence that gives you new details in your vision?