Of all the things you hope to pass on to your kids, being blind as a bat is not at the top of the list. Unfortunately it looks like that is going to be the case with my son.
He's very active and loves sports, so glasses are not the best option for him. So we have decided to give contacts a try.
He is 10 years old, so it is pretty early on to try out contacts, but he is determined. The process has changed a little in the almost 30 years since I first wore contacts. Weird how that works.
He has to be able to put both contacts in and take both contacts out before he can bring them home.
First apportionment, 40 minutes zero contacts in eyes.
Second appointment, 1 hour 1 contact in, 1 contact out.
We go back again tomorrow and I can just feel this is going to be the day!
Watching him try and fail over and over to get that contact in his eye was excruciating at first. But then it became inspiring to me.
I wear contacts too and it would take me maybe 1 minute to put in both contacts and take them both back out. But I remembered back to when I first started wearing them. I had to get up an extra hour before school to be able to get them in and make it to school on time. Years later I had to relearn to put my contacts in using only my left hand since my right arm was in cast for 6 months.
Now it is second nature because I have worn contacts almost every day for 26 years. What was once a frustrating, seemingly impossible task is now so simple.
How about you? Have you thought about how far you have come with your exercise program?
Think back to when you first started. What can you do now that seemed impossible then? What is something that is easy now, that you could barely do back then?
I reached out to my friend Ryan recently with this same message. We ran a Wounded Warrior 5K together years ago that was actually shortened to probably 1.5 miles due to flooding. He struggled mightily and could barely finish.
Fast forward to today and he ran the Rocket City Marathon, he regularly runs double digit trail miles for fun, and is an overall running machine! But he was struggling because his runs had been suffering lately due to job, new born baby, nagging injuries, etc... I just happened to reach out and remind him about how far he had come and it was a mindset switch of him. He knows he has done it before and can do it again.
So if you are struggling and feel like you haven't made any progress lately don't get discouraged. Think back when you first started and realize how much you have overcome.
If you are just beginning, know that what seems insurmountable now will one day be your warmup 🙂 Keep at it, big things are not only possible, but probable when you don't give up.
