Perhaps You are Not Focusing

This is a modern day parable about a girl who could not read well. She bought books - oh, so many books - and dreamed of being a great writer.

But she could not read well and the books collected dust. She would sit down to read and within ten minutes her eyes were wandering along with her mind. Try as she might, she could not keep her eyes on the words on the page.

Her book shelves were filled with books she had only skimmed. When people talked about their favorite books, she would cry because she too, wanted to feel the connection to the story and the author.

This girl grew older and her problem persisted. She excelled in business and thrived in a world that looked for bullet points, not stories. Secretly, though, she still longed to be a great reader and writer.

One day, after reaching middle age, she went to the optometrist and told him about her problem keeping her eyes focused. She had previously told doctors that she had trouble reading, but never in this level of detail. She said that after only a few minutes, it felt like her eyeballs were turning back into her head and forcing her eyes shut - like to go to sleep, but she was not tired.

The eye doctor gave the woman a new test, one that measures how well her eyes were coming together to focus on a light. Alas, her eyes were not coming together. The doctor had good news for the woman - he could give her a special eyeglass prescription that helped the eyes focus and this would solve her reading problem.

The woman felt a sense of relief quickly followed by anger. All this time, she could have been a better reader. Decades of books never read.

Moral?

Comments

[Charlie]

I think that gifts come in natural means. Trying to enhance it through technology can be very useful to our abilities, but it may not be necessary if it could only mean temporary enhancement. We should be more concerned of the things we are good at that doesn't need enhancements.

[Lisa Haneberg]

Charlie - I agree with you in general, but in this case, a simple adjustment to her eyeglass prescription (she already wore glasses) solved the problem.

People with no rhythm probably ought not try to be a dancer for a living. But someone with one leg shorter than the other could do just fine if they wore special shoes.

[Paula G]

I see the moral as -- don't be afraid to ask questions. Trust your intuition (I feel something is not right) and then explore doggedly to see what is "really" going on.

[Lisa Haneberg]

Yes, Paula - you might not be focused because you have not asked the right questions or gotten to the root cause.