quit squinting!

for the second time in 3 weeks i have walked into my office donning my sporty sunglasses as if my entourage was close on my heals. i was doing my best to make it to the safety of my office before too many people noticed... but i wasn't so lucky.

today i had another visit to the eye doctor & i had my eyes dilated so they could get a better view of the back of my eyes. that makes it easy for them... the problem is that afterwards, ANY light creates a headache & any font smaller than 2" is hard to read. and so there is the reason for the sunglasses. in my office. with the door shut.

a friend of mine has been dealing with retinal detachment issues this year that has left him nearly blind in that one eye. he has had to adapt the way he does everyday chores due to the reduced vision now. "you don't realize how much you rely on your peripheral vision..." he said.

i began to think about that again today as i was dealing with my own temporary vision problems. i was driving from the doctors visit to my office, squinting behind my sunglasses, when i realized that i was being passed by another car on my right (i was in the left lane). i consider myself an A+ driver & use my mirrors, check my "blind spots", etc. but i didn't notice the car until it was already beside me. it snuck up on me. i didn't see it coming. i was squinting, focusing so hard to try & accomplish the task in front of me i missed what was going on around me.

i can't tell you how many times life situations have snuck up on me. when you squint your eyes, you narrow your focus and attention towards one point or object. you also reduce the amount of peripheral vision that you have. the problem then comes when you are trying so hard to see better that you actually see worse.

the key is to balance focus of what is going on in front of us & keeping peripherally aware so we aren't blind-sided. the Bible tells us in Proverbs 2:11 (MSG) that "good sense will scout ahead for danger, insight will keep an eye out for danger." a wise person's attention is not only focused on what is ahead but also stays aware of what is going on around.

i definitely will be driving checking my mirrors a little more often on the way home.