LIFE IN 3D

Shocking, isn't it?  How some people have a radical misperception of themselves and events. We can predictably see an event unfold and know the outcome.  Yet, the people involved seem to be blind to the facts.

Have you ever been that person?  You thought you understood what was going on only to discover that you were wrong? Almost as if you had invisible blinders on your eyes preventing you from seeing clearly?  With your emotions running high and your aching heart feeling confused, you fumbled along.  Stumbling as you navigated the obscured path, you felt overwhelmed by the complexities of the problem as you tried to find happiness.

So, here we are striving to be happy but are confounded by troubles along the way.   Despite our vigorous pursuit of happiness, difficulties are and always have been a plight of humankind.  We coast along, then, wham, something happens and we are in the midst of trouble.  Even nature experiences the topsy turvy drama of life.  Just a few mornings ago, the day dawned with a thin, weak light - almost blue - but with the promise of more light to come.  Less than an hour later, the world was shrouded in a gray blanket of rainy fog - the promise gone and a damp reality settling in.

Before the "Big D's" (disease, disability, difficulty) became part of my daily life, I enjoyed years of bright sunshine and promise.  Blessed, I loved my job.  I loved the work and I loved my co-workers.  They were wonderful people - bright, kind, interesting, and moral.  At home, my family life was akin to one of those sweet Hollywood movies of a past era.  Coasting along, I was happy and content.  Then, wham, the erosion began to creep in, slowly dismantling my muscles and, with it, the promise.  My world started to darken as I lost sight of my future as I had envision it.

With every passing month, I noticed a change.  I started to have trouble stepping up high curbs, then ascending stairs, and, eventually, walking unassisted.  Being blind to the full scope of the event, I changed my diet, went to the gym on a regular basis, and hired a personal trainer.  Nothing worked. Physical activity and good food were not the solutions.  I did not understand; I had invisible blinders on my eyes preventing me from perceiving the depth of the situation: there was no solution; there is no cure for myotonic dystrophy.

Fumbling along, I continued in my misperception until the day I needed a caretaker; the punch of that reality hit me hard.  The invisible blinders were replaced with new ones.  Now, I could see nothing but what the disease had taken away and would continue to take away from me.  Almost as if the blinders were coated in poison, my mind became clouded.  I cried out in anguish.  My tears were bitter rain.  I mourned the losses that I faced every day.

Deep inside me, I knew that I needed to fight back, not against the disease but against the obstructed view.  Life is meant to be lived fully, to be lived in 3D.

I was at one of those moments: "A Moment of Decision."  It was time to decide which path I would travel.  Would I choose to let blinders cover my eyes so that I only saw a part of my life or would I choose to remove those blinders so that I could see the promise of light once more?

There is no mystery here, no titillating ending.  You know what I chose.  Slowly, I removed the blinders: despair, gloom, discouragement, jealously.  I examined them.  Of what were they composed?  How did they form?  As I began to understand each feeling, I discovered the antidote to them.

Life is a panorama of experiences.  On the surface, it may have its difficulties, disabilities, and diseases but it also depth - faith, hope and love.