Seeing is Believing

A common joke about aging is one's failing eyesight, although it isn't very funny to the person who is losing this basic faculty.  We baby boomers have one leg up on our predecessors due to medical advances. One of the more common causes of blindness in adults is macular degeneration, but early detection and a regimen of particular vitamins can stop this disease in its tracks.  Since it seems to be hereditary, checking one's family medical history can be the first step in prevention.  Similar to another sight-stealer, glaucoma, there may be no warning sign to the individual, but a trained optometrist can see its first stages and help one to keep it at bay, so regular checkups including a slit-lamp test to check interior eye health are a must.

Now to move on to my philosophical take.  When I struggle to read the 6 point or less text listing ingredients on a bottle of dressing, I get very frustrated.  I find myself holding things a little closer - or farther - away and leaning toward the light to increase the contrast.  I'm not really surprised at this, as I've been an avid reader all my life, have spent upwards of 12 hours a day on the computer or reading drawings and specs since the '80s, and love to paint and do crafts, all of which demand a lot from these eyes.

So what is the upside?

When I see a dear friend I haven't seen in a long time, I don't see the new wrinkles around her eyes, nor the more pronounced sag in her chin.  I see her big smile and as I hold an image of her face in my heart, I don't need to look that closely anyway.

When I look in the mirror of a dressing room at myself, I don't see the bags and bulges quite as much, and I am not so concerned about the way I look.  Being free of obsession about one's looks is a sign of maturity in more than one way!

And lastly, if there are so many ingredients in a food I am considering buying, that the print has to be minuscule to fit on the label, is it really that good for me anyway?  The fewer the ingredients, the fewer chemicals, additives, and fake vitamins and minerals I'll be ingesting.

So despite my grumbling each year at the eye doctor's as yet again I have to have my prescription changed, I am grateful to be able to focus on the important things in life.