As we go through life we want to be aware. Yet there may be some things we aren’t seeing. So we’ll ask, “What are you not seeing in your life?”  Sometimes we don’t even know when we are not seeing things clearly. There was a time when I (Doug) did not see things clearly and I didn’t even realize it.

I remember the day as if it were yesterday.  I was in the fifth grade. When I got home from school there was a small box sitting on the kitchen table. Little did I realize how the contents in that box would change my life forever. Inside that box was my first pair of glasses. I put them on and walked outside. For the first time in my life I could see the individual leaves on the trees. That night I could clearly see the moon, instead of a fuzzy blob of light in the sky. I was amazed! I had no idea what I was previously not seeing.

Since that time, I’ve never taken my sight for granted. Now through the modern miracle of medicine I don’t even have to wear glasses to see clearly. ‘Why is that?’, you may ask. It’s because I recently had cataract surgery and the surgeon implanted a lens in each eye that allows me to clearly see things in the distance without glasses. I knew there had to be some benefit of getting older!

Actually there is another advantage to getting older. As we age, we often can “see” things more clearly through the lens of experience. Maybe we have greater clarity about what truly is important in life. We are reminded of what Henry David Thoreau said, “It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.”

Just as we can visually see things more or less clearly, we also can “see” things that happen in life in different ways based on our perspective.  Our perspective is the result of our beliefs. Our beliefs have been formed from our own past learning, and observation of what other people do. Wayne Dyer said, “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”

We learn from what we see and what we hear.  At this time in history, we realize that watching the news can be negative and put us in a bad mood. Watching an uplifting movie can raise our spirits. Everything in our life affects us and sometimes we don’t even see how or when that is happening.

We also may suffer from confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is a condition where people will only take in, or see, information that supports their views. They are not open to listening to other viewpoints and therefore can get stuck by not seeing the whole picture.  John Lubbock said, “What we see depends mainly on what we look for.” This can keep people from making good well-informed decisions. Here again is a case where they don’t know what they are not seeing.

Have you ever gone to an office and seen some things that didn’t seem right?  For example, it might be wilting plants or dirty windows. You see the plants and windows but what you might miss seeing is how they negatively affect your feelings about the service you expect to get in that office.

Feelings can be positively affected by what you see, too.  It’s easy to be so busy that we miss seeing the beauty that is around us in people and nature. Taking time to really see these things can positively lift our mood.  

What about you? What can you do if you want to see more clearly to make good decisions for your life? First, it’s important to take a realistic look at where you are in your life now. As you look ahead, you may see many challenges, but there are also possibilities. Albert Einstein said, “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” So, move ahead looking for the positives. As you clarify a vision for your life, look at your values to see how they fit in.  You’ll want to use your values as a guide for your life. If you can’t see a clear vision for your life, we encourage you to get guidance. Someone else may be able to help you see ahead through a new and different lens. Being able to see clearly can help you on your road to even more success in life. We wish you the best on your journey!

Chanhassen MN residents, Doug and Lynn Nodland are success coaches and owners of The Balance Center in Excelsior. Contact them at WeCare@TheBalanceCenter.com

© Doug and Lynn Nodland 2020 Articles and videos may be shared in their entirety with attribution.