A reminder to look at
things from a different angle.
I recently started to have some problems with my
spectacles. The lens in the left frame started falling out. Typically,
I just couldn t seem to find the time to take the glasses into an
optometrist to get them fixed. So every time the lens fell out, I
fitted it back in again. It usually only happened when I was cleaning
my glasses, and I found that by maneuvering the lens into the frame it
would sort-of click into place, allowing me to wear them without any
problem. One of the other reasons why I probably didn t go out of my
way to have them fixed was because I don t wear my glasses all the
time. I wear contact lens during the day, and only need my glasses
late at night, after I ve removed my contacts, and when I wake up in
the morning, before I put my contacts in. So, this annoying little
problem continued for a few weeks. Yes, it was an irritating little
niggle, but one I was prepared to live with as it wasn t proving too
detrimental to my daily life.
But that all came to an end last night. Yes,
folks, Saturday night in front of the TV. Hubby was sick in bed, the
kids had also packed it in for the day, and I settled down for some
quiet time . It came to my attention that 2 or 3 times, as I was
sitting there, minding my own business, the lens in my glasses,
unprovoked, and for no apparent reason, kept falling out. This started
to get quite troublesome. Imagine if you will, all of you lucky people
with 20/20 vision, that all of a sudden, you have completely blurred
vision in one eye. Go on, try it! Drink a 100 proof bottle of vodka or
some similar liquid, and you should be on the right track!
Every time this happened, I fixed the lens back
in, berating myself for my previous procrastination, and realizing
that the lens was not obediently clicking into place as it had done
for the past few weeks. And still, every now and then, it kept falling
out. And every now and then, I diligently tried to replace it,
wondering all the while, why my left lens had chosen 11pm on a
Saturday night to really break. (Because of course, it hadn t really
been broken all this time, had it?)
As I sat there, all blurry eyed (I was watching
Annette Bening and Warren Beatty in a remake of some old movie you
know, the one Meg Ryan and Rosie O Donnell talk about all the way
through Sleepless in Seattle ?) cursing my mutinous lens for about the
10th time, I realized that the lens wasn t causing the actual problem!
Now, I can see all you technical spectacle experts out there, shaking
your heads in despair and disbelief. But just suspend reality for a
minute, and imagine if you will, that people like me do exist, and
that we don t really know how our spectacles operate. We just put them
on and expect them to do their thing while we get on with our lives!
Are you picturing it? Right then, you go back to your reality and I ll
continue with mine!
As I was saying: I suddenly noticed that the
lens itself wasn t actually doing anything to make itself fall out!
The teeny, tiny screw that was holding the frame in place had come
loose, causing the frame to lose it s shape, further causing it not to
hold the lens in place! Do I hear a collective Aaaaaaah! from my
audience? I was amazed by this revelation! Here I d been, all these
weeks, assuming that the lens had, for whatever reason, somehow come
loose from its moorings, or however it was cemented or glued (I
assumed) into its frame, when all along, it wasn t the poor lens s
fault at all! It was simply trying to do its best under what were
becoming increasingly challenging circumstances.
Once I understood what the problem was, I set
about fixing it more effectively. I was able to screw the frame back
together, and fix the lens in more securely. But I learned a good
lesson here.
Firstly (and here s an obvious one), not to put
things off until they deteriorate to such a critical stage where they
fall apart altogether. I m talking about all things, whether it s
getting my glasses fixed, or getting the house re-wired. Secondly,
that often in life, we tend to go about things the wrong way. We
tackle things from the same angle again and again. Then we wonder why
we aren t getting anywhere, when in fact, we re looking at things from
the entirely wrong perspective. We often need to step back in order to
get a good look at the big picture , and see things from a different
position. How often do you find yourself having the same
confrontations with family, colleagues or friends? Do you get that
feeling of d? vu? Try tackling things a
little differently. This is a great outlet for your creativity and
imagination two things that are vital to our very happiness, but which
are continually stifled. We ve become so complacent that we ve lost
our ability to view our options. We ve forgotten how to be innovative
and resourceful in our thinking. It s time we took off our blinkers
and rummaged around in the pigeon-holes of our brains. Maybe in one of
those compartments we ll recover our misplaced ingenuity.
Go on, try it! Differentiating between the lens
and the frame can be a real eye-opener!
E-mail Janice at: janice@learn.co.za
Janice's URL: http://www.heartwarmers4u.com/members/?jancoach
