Day 10. Day 10!

I walked out the door this morning and immediately got something in my eye. That is never fun, but for those of you that wear contact lenses, you know that the tiniest speck feels as if someone is jamming their sharp thumbnail into your eye socket. It’s rough. I stubbornly didn’t want to go back in and rinse my lenses out, so I sallied forth, one hand cupped over the bad eye as tears streamed down my face.

Needless to say, my walk didn’t begin so well, and even though whatever boulder was in my eye finally fell out, I was cranky. Instead of hearing the birds and delighting in dew on grass, I was stomping along, thinking about bills, debt, how dirty my house was—all unpleasant, and, let’s face it, unhelpful thoughts. 

Fortunately, I caught myself after about 3 blocks. Mostly because it felt bad, and this whole walking things feels good. I noticed the difference.

 

So I shook it off. And my little episode brought to mind a saying I frequently use to help my family—and myself---understand when others might behave in certain ways that don’t work for us. It’s simple in a Forrest Gump-sort of way:

 

Everybody Looks Out at the World wearing Different Glasses. 

 

It’s true. Your frames might be red, your lenses smudged, or you might put on black horn rims with spotless lenses except for one scratch in the corner. Regardless, it affects how you see the world. 

 

Even though someone might have exactly the same frames as you, their prescription is quite different. Your glasses are your belief system. Without it, things would seem unclear, out of focus. 

It doesn’t always mean that you like Janet’s cat-eye glasses on her or your conservative relative appreciates your new titanium frame-less specs. But it is important to remember that we all wear different glasses and it affects the things we do, the things that leave our lips, and how we view the things others say and do.

It doesn’t really make things easier when some jackass is, well, a jackass. But if you remember that his glasses are different than yours, then hopefully you can understand that his or her jackass-ness has little to do with you, and a lot to do with the glasses perched on the end of his nose.

By the way, today is Day 10. Day 10! I don’t think I’ve ever done any form of healthy anything for 10 whole days in a row. You know what? This feels totally doable, and totally wonderful. Anyone can do this.You can, too.

I hope you enjoy these next few days---going to be beautiful out there,

Dani