“Master yourself,
and become king of the world around you.
Never be a victim of life; be its conqueror.” Mike Norton
"Your competition is not other people but the time you kill, the ill will you create, the knowledge you neglect to learn, the connections you fail to build, the health you sacrifice along the path, your inability to generate ideas, the people around you who don't support and love your efforts." James Altucher
"Your competition is not other people but the time you kill, the ill will you create, the knowledge you neglect to learn, the connections you fail to build, the health you sacrifice along the path, your inability to generate ideas, the people around you who don't support and love your efforts." James Altucher
The following publication was something I needed to hear that early morning. So I pass it on to you.
(taken from a Blog
post that a friend has been publishing for a few years now, her name is Maribel
Steel)
5 Key Ways Blind People Do
It Better
I’ll admit, I don’t
drive a normal boring car – the tech guys are working on it though, I’m
imagining the driverless car will be available for blind people soon. What a
bloody hoot! Oops!!
Yes, be warned, we know our limitations
and we’ve adapted to this blind-challenge.
Being blind brings a
new spin on life. When you accept the ride, you actually find many ways in
which to excel, exciting ways in which you can put your ‘foot to the pedal’ and
enjoy life to the full. Come and take a back seat and allow us to show YOU the
way for a change.
I’m raring to show
you five keys to help you navigate through the racetrack of life.
Get ready…set…GO!
Key 1: blind people
are experts in decision making
We know how to cut
down on too many choices and make a decision to save mental energy.
According to
research, we all have a limited amount of brain power available to us every
day. The more decisions we have to make, the weaker our ability to decide on
many aspects of our day. And we can suffer from brain-fatigue too.
The simple act of
having to choose between too many options can lead to overload.
When I read this, it
became clear to me why as a visually-impaired person, I like to ‘cut to the
chase’ and focus on realistic options when I am with sighted people because it
allows me to reserve my thinking-battery and be more effective with
brain-energy for those other important decisions.
The mere action of
getting around is taking up most of my brain and sensory cells in decision
making, to stay safe, to negotiate around obstacles, to listen out for sudden
changes as I tread carefully around my neighborhood or for example in the
supermarket. My shopping list says ‘orange juice’. Please don’t tell me the
other fifty shades of orange – I am really content with my original choice of
orange juice.
Making a firm
decision once we know our options is also liberating for our sighted helpers:
we have freed you from feeling overwhelmed by having to tell us every detail in
front of your eyes. Let’s keep the wires clear to our thought process and enjoy
the decisions we make with confidence.
Key 2: blind people
are natural problem solvers
Every single day, we
are confronted by tasks which would be easier if we could see but our eyes have
gone on a long vacation without us so what can we do? We can adapt to seeing
the task differently.
Watch how your
visually-impaired or blind friend finds creative solutions that meet the task
requirement by being resourceful rather than resentful, and good-humored
instead of bad tempered.
We problem solve and
avoid frustration by looking for alternative methods to achieve a visual task.
Getting from point A
to point B without sight requires practiced skills in problem solving, being
tenacious, persistent and open to creative solutions.
Asking a blind
person directions is not as silly as it sounds because we have already mapped
out the route…going my way?
Key 3: blind people
are natural observers
Gathering detail
about our environment is not only in the seeing, it is in the feeling, in the
knowing, in the observing of tiny details the eyes can miss because they can’t
see for looking. Close your eyes and what happens? Your entire body becomes
alert to subtle sensory observation.
We are expert detail detectors because we take notice from a variety of sensory skills.
We are expert detail detectors because we take notice from a variety of sensory skills.
Our ears hear you,
our heart feels for genuine communication or awkward silences, our body alerts
us to physical changes, our hands hold a picture of life and our intuition has
a clear line to a deep knowing that guides us.
Close your busy-body eyes in a café or any other place as an experiment and see how well you begin to observe so much more. Leave your visual prejudice in the dark and open up to the full experience of observing life differently. We actually do see more in the dark than you realize.
Close your busy-body eyes in a café or any other place as an experiment and see how well you begin to observe so much more. Leave your visual prejudice in the dark and open up to the full experience of observing life differently. We actually do see more in the dark than you realize.
Key 4: blind people
are awesome time managers
You know the saying,
‘if you want to get a job done, ask a busy person?
This is because they
know how to manage the task within realistic time constraints and boy, have we
had our share of adapting to visual restrictions.
Losing the ability
to see means people who are visually-impaired or blind take much more notice of
the time it takes to achieve their tasks.
We have to be realistic in setting our goals and pace ourselves.
Time checks are a regular part of our day: as in preparing for an outing, a meeting, a deadline, cooking for our family, organizing our children for school.
We have learned the essential skill of keeping time so we can saunter through our task with good old Father Time.
He’s got all the time in the world for each one of us – so take his hand, the minute one or the hour one and be realistic when setting deadlines.
Notice the grace and skill of the blind person who manages time wisely and you too can enjoy the time of your life – every second of it!
We have to be realistic in setting our goals and pace ourselves.
Time checks are a regular part of our day: as in preparing for an outing, a meeting, a deadline, cooking for our family, organizing our children for school.
We have learned the essential skill of keeping time so we can saunter through our task with good old Father Time.
He’s got all the time in the world for each one of us – so take his hand, the minute one or the hour one and be realistic when setting deadlines.
Notice the grace and skill of the blind person who manages time wisely and you too can enjoy the time of your life – every second of it!
Key 5: blind people
are ambassadors for living life to the full
You may not think it
possible to rediscover the joy in life when you are losing more of your sight
or when you have to face the frightening reality of impending blindness. Your
life is never going to be the same, it is true, but it’s going to be different,
not necessarily worse.
People who are visually-impaired or blind wake up every morning alongside their sighted loved ones with the same desires: to be happy, to be fulfilled, to be at peace, to feel a sense of belonging, to want to contribute to our families wellbeing, to feel safe and secure emotionally and physically, to take our place in the world, so why would anyone see the one weak part of their life as the whole part of who they are?
I won’t deny it has taken many bumps and bruises to my ego and much effort and soul-searching to understand this ‘blind-life’ but what I have discovered is a real treasure: being blind doesn’t stop anyone from enjoying a fulfilled life.
It’s the choice and decisions we take that can keep us striding onwards like ambassadors for life. Come take our hand and the blind will show you the way to find courage and how to keep your face to the sun even on a cloudy day.
After all, it’s the life we were born to live, so we might as well make it the best one we can…
People who are visually-impaired or blind wake up every morning alongside their sighted loved ones with the same desires: to be happy, to be fulfilled, to be at peace, to feel a sense of belonging, to want to contribute to our families wellbeing, to feel safe and secure emotionally and physically, to take our place in the world, so why would anyone see the one weak part of their life as the whole part of who they are?
I won’t deny it has taken many bumps and bruises to my ego and much effort and soul-searching to understand this ‘blind-life’ but what I have discovered is a real treasure: being blind doesn’t stop anyone from enjoying a fulfilled life.
It’s the choice and decisions we take that can keep us striding onwards like ambassadors for life. Come take our hand and the blind will show you the way to find courage and how to keep your face to the sun even on a cloudy day.
After all, it’s the life we were born to live, so we might as well make it the best one we can…
There you have five
ways to see how blind people do it better. I have more in draft but for now,
we’d love to hear other key ways from your own experiences…
Yes! When I move to Melbourne, the first thing I want to do is find that race track and drive a car there myself. No kidding! LOL
Love Sarah XOXO
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