Seeing Clearly needs more than 20:20 Vision
As someone who has suffered from myopia since the age of eleven dealing with poor vision is something I have had to learn to adapt to. Fortunately glasses are no longer nerdy, but have become fashion accessories and the era of milk bottle lenses have been replaced with lightweight, light reflecting lenses. For a long time I wore contact lenses but suffered from dry eyes, and have now reached a point where I don’t ‘look’ right without glasses on.
However, this doesn’t stop me praying for miracle healing and hoping my eyesight will be restored. When my kids come into our room in the morning, I have to put my glasses on to see them clearly, going swimming is a nightmare because I can no longer see the edge of the pool without my glasses on, and finding the entrance to the ladies changing room has the potential for huge embarrassment.
It reminds me of a song we used to sing at Primary School, in the Quartermaster’s Store “My eyes are dim, I cannot see, I have not brought my specs with me, I have not brought my specs with me.”
Lense technology has moved on so I no longer steam up all the time, but on the occasions it does happen I am temporarily blinded. I also have to go on rollacoasters blind, and have lost my glasses whilst playing in the sea on holiday, which left me in a blur for the rest of the day.
It is therefore with some irony that I find myself in a position where my friends and colleagues call me ‘visionary’ – I have an entrepreneurial spirit that cannot be contained and can ‘see’ the possibilities before pen is even put to paper. My ability to imagine a future, and more importantly work towards making that future a reality is part of who I am.
But maybe there is a benefit of myopia in having vision. I can’t see the detail of the journey of how to get from today to the future. I am not able to envision each and every obstacle on the way, and I certainly don’t get lost in the nitty gritty nuts and bolts. For someone who is physically short sighted, to the point where I can no longer read a book without my spectacles, my approach to life is very long sighted.
When someone says to me ‘how’ – sometimes I don’t have the answer immediately, but I know when we get there what to do, and how to navigate around the obstacles to reach the goal. It seems being physically incapable of seeing clearly, means that my inner vision is crystal clear. Where others can’t see that far ahead I can explain in minute detail what the future looks like. However, I need to work with people who can see the steps on the journey. My myopia in the short term, is joined with those who have no ability to view the long sightedness and between us we piece together getting from the present to the future.
It is rare for a visionary to be a detail person or a details person to be a visionary. In developing organisation purpose, strategy and tactical plan it needs both short and long sighted ability to move ever forward to the goal that is envisioned.
I am not ashamed of having to wear glasses, although sometimes it can be annoying, and for those who lack inner vision, there should be no shame either. Visionaries need people who see the detail, and can give warning of hurdles that will need to be jumped, just as those who are detailed need help to lift their head up every now and again to see where we are heading.
Embrace the type of vision you have. Realise that not all of us can be good at one type of seeing, but that all of us need support to see things differently. Find those who you can help and support, add value where you can add value. Without details the vision would remain a hope rather than reality and without vision detail would grow stale.
We all need each other to move forward, to grow and to develop. And though it might be the visionaries that get lauded, they are nothing without those who bring them down to earth and take them forward step, by minute step.