Gaining Perspective Through Vision Therapy
Part 10 of a series. Click here to start at the beginning or here to go to the previous post.
What do you think's possible? After 23 weeks of vision therapy, I'm holding onto my dream of seeing the world with depth. My progress is slow but sure. Join my story and see what insight there may be for you.
ME
The first ten weeks of therapy were fast and furious. Lessons were coming from all angles. New realizations. Exciting possibilities. I went from doing exercises that brought me to my knees to being able to finish them and quickly move on. 138 days of exercise. Over 100 different drills to tease my brain into taking the images from each eye and turn it into one. There have been lots of tears as my brain has done things it has never done before. Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks?
YOU
- Are you able to get caught up in the excitement of a new endeavor? Ride the wave, feel the flow, and dare to hope!
- Allow yourself to see amazing things happen to you no matter how old you are, where you live, who your family is, or whatever lame story you’ve written for your life.
- What is your crazy out-of-this-world dream? Mine was to have depth perception (well, one of them). I couldn’t even let this dream in because I had been told, BY DOCTORS, that it couldn’t done. That was until my friend, Michelle, told me it was possible.
ME
After about 3 months, therapy has become more difficult in the sense that the progression seems slower. I wear red/green glasses a lot and faithfully do what I’m told. The therapist constantly tells me to relax which is extremely counter-intuitive to me. For my entire life, I’ve had to try hard just to keep up. And now I’m told to relax? This is something I’m NOT very good at.
YOU
- Can you do what you’re told to do even though you don’t understand it? These instructions can come from your boss, your spouse, your children, or your church. Are you sure it’s not a good idea to just do it?
- Are you able to relax and trust the process? We all know these things simply take time to improve; wine and whiskey, leather shoes and jeans, cheese and pickles, medicine and technology. Heck, even Betty White has gotten better with age!
- What is it that you’re NO good at that needs some work? It can seem innocuous, but you know when it’s not working for your life. Are you ‘too giving’, ‘too intense’, ‘too careful’, or ‘too smart’?
ME
There have been more miracles and tears. A few weeks ago, I was doing an exercise which is basically looking out into space with a rectangular piece of cardboard projecting out from my nose. I did it day after day, not knowing what my brain was supposed to pick up. Although the therapist had described it, she may as well have been speaking French. As I looked across the neighborhood from my second-floor window, without warning, my brain did an about face and projected two images into my field of view. What?!? How did that happen? There was no snap or push or angelic music from on high. It simply happened in the blink of an eye (OK, that was a cheap pun).
YOU
- Do miracles happen in your life? If they don’t, would you recognize them if they did?
- What are you NOT in control of? What is just waiting to happen if you’ll just relax and trust that it can?
- What do you believe is possible?
Another fun thing happened over the past few weeks. Mike and I are playing cards each day with ‘special’ cards and red/green glasses. It’s a game of speed and we’ve laughed more doing that silly game than we ever could have imagined.
Do something fun every day. Laugh and enjoy life. Quit writing the end of the story and become like a child who’s open to all possibilities. Keep dreaming. Be hopeful.
Enjoy the moment.
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