A New Lens on Life

“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.”

Henry David Thoreau

I just got new glasses. I guess you could say I’ve “advanced” from drugstore readers to prescription progressive lenses. I wasn’t sure I really needed them but I decided to go ahead and get them so I could quit the constant on again, off again, “where did I put my glasses?” routine of my every day.

What a surprise! Now I can actually see the dashboard of my car! All this time, I thought the clock only came on at night. Now I can see that not only is it on in the daytime, I can also tell what the temperature is and I can actually read the odometer! I had no idea what I was missing!

Of course, the downside is being able to see every line and wrinkle when I look in the mirror. Maybe we were designed to lose our eyesight as we age for a reason.

My new, improved vision has made me wonder what else I’ve been missing.

What about other people? I think I am seeing them, but am I really or am I only seeing a projection of some unrecognized part of myself? What does it take to truly see another?

And what about your own life? Have you ever felt unseen, unrecognized, invisible? Are you seeing all there is to see about yourself? Is there another point of view that could help you see more clearly?

If only it were as easy as putting on a new pair of glasses!

For years I have practiced Insight Meditation, another way of seeing but with closed eyes. It’s a kind of training for being with what is, in the present moment, without judgment — otherwise known as Mindfulness. What I have learned is that when I am fully present with another (in the present moment as it is, without judgment), I have a much better chance of seeing them clearly with compassion and understanding.

When I am fully present with myself I cultivate gratitude for all that is.

Marianne Williamson said, “You don’t need a new life, just a new lens through which to view the one you have.”

She just might be right about that.