Guest Post by Marty Klein
“Hey, I heard your friend won the lottery.”
“That’s great!“
“Well … he did win the lottery, but with some of the money, he bought a yacht and the yacht sank.”
“Oh, that’s terrible.”
“Well… he was rescued by the Coast Guard, and while recuperating in the hospital, he fell in love with his nurse.”
“Oh, that’s great.”
“Well… they got married and bought a beautiful house on the beach, but then a hurricane came and washed the house out to sea.”
“Oh, that’s terrible.”
“Well… they wrote a book about the nightmare and it became a best seller.”
“Oh, that’s great… or is it?”
Years ago, after I lost my sight, I struggled for quite a while to make the transition to a life as a blind man. During those years of adjustment I got involved with a counseling community which helped me a lot, not just with the adjustment from sight to a life without sight, but with a more conscious understanding of human nature.
Once my life was going pretty well again I got involved with yoga which turned out to be another gift because I was able to keep my body strong while learning methods of calming my mind. I learned the benefits of meditation as well as useful breathing techniques to help me stay balanced emotionally. And eventually I got involved in chanting, a wonderful combination of singing, opening the heart and quieting the mind.
I honestly don’t think I would have discovered all those wonderful activities if I hadn’t lost my sight. My loss of sight turned out to be the catalyst that changed my life in a very good way. Funny how something so dreaded by our society, the loss of vision, turned out to be the one thing that helped me get my life together.
Of course my life has more physical challenges every day because of my blindness. There’s no denying that. However I look back at those years when I had normal vision and although I had less physical challenges, I was lost and confused as a young man. Who knows what direction I would have gone in if I hadn’t lost my vision? But thank God that I was lucky enough to get involved in all those healthy groups and activities. It’s true. My blindness turned out to be a blessing in disguise. My life without sight is so much better than it ever was when I had sight, and that’s something for all of us to think about regarding each person’s unique situation. Can you understand that your greatest challenge may be a blessing in disguise?
