LIVING with Limitations

Have you ever bought a new car and then noticed that every other car on the road was the same as yours? Coincidence? Or did you just become more "aware" once YOU too had that car?

I'm experiencing something similar, yet different at the same time.

If you've followed the blog for a while you may recall the "not so great news" that I received back in January of 2009. In a nutshell, I had to see a retina specialist who told me that I had the WORST eyes he's EVER seen, and he sees 12,000 patients each year. He followed that with asking if I had a history of blindness in my family.

He was full of bad news...didn't give me anything to hope for...just shook his head and sent me on my way. Not cool!

So here I am, 2 years and some months later and Thanks be to God, I still see just fine. And I'm BELIEVING that I will continue to see just fine.

Although I am a firm believer in prayer, I also know that God is not a magician, and I have to do my part.

So I've changed my diet, incorporated lots of dark leafy greens, and protect my eyes from the sun ALWAYS. I never go outside anymore without sunglasses, "solar shields" to be exact.

In the beginning I was a bit self-conscious because these are not glasses that a woman MY age would wear. These are glasses that my GRANDMOTHER would wear. They go over my regular glasses. But I don't care about LOOKS. I care about being able to SEE. And so, I wear them.

So if you see me out and about, or in pictures and wonder, "why does she have those HUGE sunglasses on?", now you know.

After these 2 years & some months, I've come to the realization that my life is a little bit different now. Somewhat limited.

When I'm out at the park or the beach, the majority of people don't have anything covering their eyes, and they're having a rip-roaring good time. Pretty much everywhere I go, most people don't have anything covering their eyes. For me...no can do.

I used to wear contacts so that I could wear "regular" sunglasses, but my eyes do "weird things" when I put the contacts in now, so I've chosen not to wear them.

Does it sadden me to see others out in the sunshine without needing to cover their eyes? Not at all. I am THANKFUL that I can actually SEE such people. I understand that I will never be able to do that, and that is a-ok with me.

It's like this...some people need medication to regulate abnormal functions in their bodies. Some people need to walk with a cane to help with their stability. Some need hearing aids to help with their auditory functions.

So you see, there are various limitations that people are living with, but the key word is LIVING. People with limitations MUST continue LIVING. The limitations are just little bumps in the road. You go over the bump with caution, and keep it movin'.

Let the DIALOGUE begin! Are YOU LIVING with any limitations?

Talk to me!

Til next time...

Running behind, but Catching up

Since the 1 year anniversary of "The Dialogue Den", I've made an effort to blog daily. Hasn't been easy because life always seems to have something more pressing for me to do. Or in this case, FUN was calling and I HAD to answer. So I missed posting yesterday.

Where was I? Out with friends having sushi and singing karaoke. And oh what a time we had! I must've sung 20 songs and belted each one out at the top of my lungs. FUN, Fun, fun!

By the time I got home July 1st was over and I missed posting for the day. So today, I'm doubling up, and catching up.

Let the DIALOGUE begin! Do you sing karaoke? If so, do you have a "signature song" that you like to sing?

Talk to me!

Til next time...

Around the World in 365 Days (or so)

An acquaintance of mine announced today that she is resigning from her position at work, has sold her home, and has decided to travel the world with her husband for the next year.

I think that is FANTASTIC!!!

SHE, has chosen to follow her dream.

When she broke the news she thought we would tell her that she was crazy. Boy did we surprise her. We had nothing but encouraging words.

I mean really...how many us have dreams of things we want to do but never make those dreams a reality. This lady, is throwing caution to the wind and she's goin' for it! Around the world in 365 days (or so). No shoulda, coulda, wouldas for her. She is on her way to creating memories that she will cherish for a lifetime. So so cool!

Let the DIALOGUE begin! Have you ever done anything "crazy" like packing your bags and leaving everything behind so that you could fulfill a dream?

Talk to me!

Til next time...

My Lid

Tall
Dark
Handsome
Makes me smile
Intelligent
Articulate
Sings beautifully
Accepts me for me, just as I am, and thinks I'm beautiful...just as I am
Christian - Follower of Christ
Ambitious
Makes me laugh
Congenial
Thoughtful
Accepts the fact that I have children

YES...he exists. He really does.

Let the DIALOGUE begin! Since there's a lid for every pot, how would you describe YOUR lid?

Talk to me!

Til next time...

Simma Down

Have you ever wanted something so badly but found that you had to wait a very long time before you could have it? I'm not talkin' minutes or hours. Not even days or weeks. I'm talking YEARS!

Well, I'm at that point. There's something I've been waiting for, even had it in my presence a few times, but it always went away.

Now, it's back and I have an opportunity to keep it this time, if I can just learn to be patient and "simma down".

Can I do this? I have to, because I don't want this to go away again.

Let the DIALOGUE begin! Are you good at waiting for things? Or do you rush them only to find that they've gone away before you knew it.

Talk to me!

Till next time...

PROTECT THE RETINA!!!

Those who know me well know me well, know about my experience that I had back on January 29, 2009 with "Dr. Bad News", the retina specialist.

Before I saw this man I'd never even heard of a "retina specialist".

Anyhoo...I go see him. He takes a zillion pictures of the inside of my eyes, he grabs a sheet of paper with an eyeball on it and starts scribbling away. "You have one of these, and one of those, and a few of these, yadda yadda yadda".

He throws me a bunch of bad news, tells me there's NOTHING that can be done to repair the damage, and sends me on my way.

Boo "Dr. Bad News"!!!

Well, I don't give up that easily. As a matter of fact, I don't give up. I took his bad news and went straight to the CREATOR of my eyes. I laid my need out to Him, then gave it to Him because this was waaay bigger than ANYTHING that I could fix on my own.

I need Him to sustain my eyesight, today, tomorrow, forever. And I believe He WILL!

Now I have changed some things becasue I know that I have a part in my HEALING. I eat dark leafy greens, take lutein and bilberry supplements, and I always...did you hear me...I said I ALWAYS wear sunglasses. ALWAYS.

I believe that these things, along with lots of prayer, are keeping these eyes of mine working. Thank You LORD!

Kinda bothers me though that the medical world doesn't seem to be making much effort in retinal research. It's as if they feel that losing one's eyesight is "no big deal". HELLO!!! It's not a "big" deal, it's a HUGE deal!!!

Eyesight is MAJOR.

I mean really. I heard on the news that there is research being done to stop hair from turning gray. I just had to shake my head. SERIOUSLY?!? People can get by with gray hair. Do they have ANY idea how difficult it is to live in a world without one's eyesight. Come on people...PROTECT THE RETINA!!!


Okay, so there's my soapbox. Let the DIALOGUE begin! Is there anything that you think the medical field should be researching that it's not? I'd LOVE you if you said retinal repair/regeneration. But I will respect whatever YOU feel is just as important.

Talk to me!

Til next time...

The PaST has PaSSED

For those who know me, you would agree that I am a fairly positive person and choose not to dwell on the wrongs that have been done to me.

Just as Christ has forgiven me for my wrongdoings, I am to forgive others in that same manner.

I realize though that most people just don't get this concept. I know one such person and as much as I love this individual (we'll call "Chris"), the one point of contention that I have with Chris is the way that Chris brings up negative experiences of the past.

When I was young, I had a friend who we'll call "Casey". I hung out with Casey, had sleepovers with Casey...simply had fun, as kids do.

Casey had one minor flaw. Casey wasn't very nice and spoke negatively about a lot of people. But to me, Casey was alright. If not, I wouldn't have hung around.

Now we fast forward a few decades. My friend Chris has this thing for bringing up the past and telling me that even though I used to hang out with Casey, Casey would talk badly about me, just as Casey did with everyone else. Chris has brought this up on a number of occasions and my response all these years later is this: I DON'T CARE!!!

What good does it do me now to know that Casey spoke as badly about me as everyone else?
How does that help me? IT DOESN'T!
What am I supposed to do about it all these years later?
Doesn't matter...there's nothing I CAN do.
It didn't bother me back then and as an adult I'm certainly not letting it bother me now.

So to my friend Chris, I say GET OVER IT...I have. The paST has paSSED. Time to move forward.

Let the DIALOGUE begin! Would you want to know NOW that someone from your past whom you regarded as a friend, actually spoke negatively about you to others?

Talk to me!

Til next time...