I Can’t Focus (Thursday Writing Essential)

Your challenge today is to create a post about what we focus on in our journey. This challenge is wide open. There is all kinds of opportunities to create something special about focus on our journeys. Eyes are not the only tool that helps us focus so are our ears. There may be others. There all types of focus, near sighted or far sighted, broad or narrow and more. What can cause distractions in our focus or even the pros and cons of focusing only on the goal could be another direction to take the challenge.

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My grades started dropping when I was twelve. I was having trouble solving math problems the teacher wrote on the blackboard. She talked to me and gave me the same problems and I solved them right away so I wasn’t as dumb as she thought. I later found out that she had noticed that I was squinting like crazy trying to make out what was on the blackboard and she sent me to the school nurse who gave me an eye test.

Because I was only a student, they didn’t share the results with me, but did tell my parents and, two weeks later, I showed up at school with my new glasses.

I remember the doctor telling me at the time that my eyesight would either improve gradually or it would stay pretty much the same for many years. Seems it stayed the same because, to this day, my prescription is the same as when I was twelve. With a bit of a twist…

I’m nearsighted, which means I can see things that are close, but can’t see things that are far away. Over the years that “close” has changed somewhat. I can see something four feet away with my glasses, but nothing closer. I can see something up to about two feet without my glasses, but nothing farther. See the problem? From about two to four feet -- I can’t see things with or without my glasses.

This has some funny consequences when I’m shopping. I know where things are in the store but they occasionally move things around a bit. In order to read the labels clearly, I have to take off my glasses and pull the container close enough to read it. Unfortunately, I tend to get in a hurry when I’m shopping and don’t want to take the time to do that. I’ll look at something, realize it’s in the right place on the shelf, think the label looks right, and I’ll grab it.

When I’m fixing dinner I’ll grab that can of chopped mushrooms, open it, and… finally figure out I have a can of artichoke hearts (or whatever) -- then I’m left to figure out how to make something out of whatever it is that I’ve just opened.

See, there is a plus side; I never know what I’m going to be cooking on any given night.