True Vision

Would you like to have a 20-dollar bill? If I were to crumble the 20-dollar bill up, would you still want it? If I drop it on the floor and grind it with my shoe, would you still want the 20-dollar bill?

Chances are, no matter what I did to the $20 bill, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. You did not place a judgment on the 20-dollar bill for how it looked. It was still worth 20 dollars.

Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we've made, the mistakes we've made, and the circumstances that come our way. We forget that like the $20 bill, crumpled and dirty, we too still retain our true value as a person and are still wanted and loved by others. Seeing our true value requires our true vision. However, most of us use only our real vision (our physical sight) to see only the external circumstances. We do not see our true value.

Real vision is what we physically see with our eyes, that is to see the outward appearance of everything on this planet - nature, life styles, family, friends and most of all ourselves. Living in a visual world, we take in 80-90% of our information about our lives through our vision, often forgetting to use other senses and ignoring our true vision.

When I had sight, I only used my real vision. Using my real vision determined how I felt about the world and the attitude I carried throughout my days. I took for granted everything around me. I would use my real vision, place judgment on others and even more so myself. I would make my decisions about people based on how they looked and how they did things. I would be even more critical of myself.

True vision is made up of authenticity, sincerity and integrity. It is about seeing with our hearts, our souls or our higher self. It is not placing judgment on what we see with our real vision, and recognizing the true value that is not depleted by life's circumstances and challenges.

Losing my sight in a boating accident forced me to begin to see the world with true vision and I am still learning to use this amazing gift.

There is a story that is used at the Center for Creative Learning in the "Taking It Lightly" weekend. One day a family went for a Sunday afternoon ride in the car - Dad, Mom, Billy and Sue. It was a very warm sunny day and they were driving on a country road. As they were driving along, a little red Porsche came up behind them. The Porsche started to pass and because of oncoming traffic, suddenly cut in front of the family car. This was so quick and close that Dad had to swerve to avoid getting hit. The roads were not very wide and the family car spun in the gravel on the side of the road and ended up in the ditch. Everyone was yelling and screaming. Thank God nobody was hurt.

Then many years down the road of life Billy was driving on the highway. He came upon a five-car accident that had just happened. In the middle of the accident was a little red Porsche. Who do you think Billy thought caused the accident? That's right, the little red Porsche car. He already had a belief that little red sports cars are dangerous and there is no convincing him otherwise.

Truthfully he didn't really know who caused the accident. His decision was based on what had happened many years ago when the little red Porsche pushed the family car off the road. This happens many times in our lives. We make decisions based on what had happened many years ago using our real vision. If we were to use our true vision, we would see the present moment and look for the true circumstances and value in each situation.

Each one of us has true vision, yet most of us do not use it or even know it exists. We are not usually taught that true vision is using our senses of hearing, intuition and our hearts to see all the wonderful things in this world, including ourselves.

I think we don't really see with our real vision. We all live in darkness when we don't look at what is true about ourselves, about others, about life. As I have developed a better understanding of myself, I need to love myself first, accepting everything about me, all of my assets and all of my liabilities, and finding something good in my liabilities as well as my assets.

Looking at everything in our lives with true vision will bring many gifts. Do not take things for granted. I never thought something like losing my sight would ever have happen to me. Now that I do not have sight I see the true value in my family, friends, nature, the planet, the universe and most of all me!

Real vision was only a part of me, there is so much more. Each one of us is a unique individual with a lot of value. So appreciate, cherish, honor and love the things you have, including yourself, as they could suddenly be taken away. The more you use your true vision the more happiness, love, success and fulfillment will come into your life.

I hope I have inspired you to use your true vision, to see the true value each of us has, to love your entire being, and to remember that when we feel what is true, we see a lot more than we do with our real vision.