3 Life Lessons a blind man taught me about Vision

This is based on a true life story; it really happened. I can boldly say this because it happened to me.

Just like we have seasons here on earth, our lives have seasons. Some people have two, some have three while others have four. But no one has only one season. We all get to experience a transition which takes us into another season.

Here I was seated in my living room, I reviewed my life and realized that all the activities I engaged in order to put food on my the table for my family, add value to my clients, friends and even myself was already turning into a routine. I knew I needed as jolt, I needed to leap into a better season of my life. One with fresh enthusiasm, drive, creativity and audacity.

I once learnt that if you want to change a man, change his environment. What are the elements of this environment? The movies he watch, the books he reads, the people he hangs out with or even the music and people he deeply listens.

Of cause, I could not engage all the mentioned elements but anytime I want to experience a change in the season of my life; if I do not speak with members of my mastermind, I get a new book to read or find an inspiring movie or documentary to watch.

So on this faithful day, I went into some of my documentaries and I stumbled on one that caught my attention, it was by a blind man. He spoke about three lessons blindness had taught him. My curiosity was ignited. The essence of the talk was about to consume me like a wild fire takes over a forest.

As I sat in my couch watching, my gaze was fixed on him as he shared his experiences. I began to draw meaning and see how the subjects spoke to me. It was as though he was speaking at a large room with the audience of one; me of cause! These lessons were just what I needed. They helped me gained clarity on the next steps towards my life pursuit.

Here are the three lessons;

1. Do not excuse failure for any reason on any account. The blind speaker spoke of how as a young boy he had participated in all the adventurous activities of his peers; from running down the stairs, jumping the gutter to fighting when necessary. He did not allow the absence of his physical sight to excuse him from the fun of childhood. No matter the condition we find our self, temporary setbacks and failures should not be a reason to quit. By excusing failure, we surrender a great opportunity to dream and dare to make the dream come true. It is your responsibility to look beyond the abys of depression into the high plateaus of the possibility of making your dream come true. In the words of Robin Sharma, There are simply no limits for a person who accepts no limits.

2. Trust, even when you have no reason. Blind people rely on their friends or good Samaritans to help them cross the road or tell them when to jump over a gutter. The speaker said sometime, his friends had asked him to jump over a gutter even when there was none, just so they could have a good laugh. Though often than not, they all ended up having a good laugh. It takes a lot of courage to believe and have hope when all the chips are down. In the pursuit of vision, we must believe and have faith that the master of the universe who created all its beautiful creatures could not have created our life’s stair way leading nowhere. We all have to trust that even if the events of life make no sense at the moment, as we take the steps towards the unknown territories of our pursuit, it will make sense at the end.

3. Be blind to be focused (not literally though): Sight sometimes is a distraction. On your way to your destination, what you see can also be a distraction from your goal. Apple Computers is celebrated for their success in creating innovative technology. The CEO said they had to say no to a thousand beautiful ideas in order to say yes to one and make that one idea a remarkable one. I like what Darren Hardey said, success is not about doing five thousand things well, it is about doing about half a dozen things five thousand times better. You have to blind in order to be focused; focus is blindness to other nice-to-do activities in order to achieve your goal. To succeed in life, especially in this social media age where you can get over 60 notifications in less than 60 seconds, we all have to exhibit a great degree of blindness to our favourite distraction so that we can attain success in that one singular goal that will give us deep sense of satisfaction, add value to others and even make the world a better place.

I know you must be itching to know who this blind man is; he is one of the most celebrated man in Nigeria. As an Award Winning Music artist and producer; he has inspired a lot of people and even made more impact than most with heavy weight titles. He is Cobhmas Asuquo. The only child born blind out of six children without any medical explanation. He taught me these life lessons.

We live in a culture that esteems sight over blindness, yet in blindness with all of its weakness, I have drawn some key strength in my life’s journey – Cobhams Asuquo

Now you know the man and the lessons he used to sharpen my vision. So which of these lessons triggered a leap into a new season for you?

Share them in the comments below, I would love to hear from you. Thanks for reading and sharing this post with your friends.