Blurry Eyes

I went to the eye doctor yesterday for my annual check up. Everything was fine. As I left the office and got back into my car to drive home, I realized that I could not see. My eyes had been dilated and life was a blur. I put on sunglasses to alleviate the blaring brightness and drove home slowly in the right lane. If this happens to me it must happen to everyone. People are driving half blind every day. If they make drops to dilate, why can't they make drops to undilate? This was a very unsafe situation. Good thing I was not pulled over by the police or in an accident.

IT(hink) Department

I am the IT(hink) department at work. Most weeks are slow, but last week was busy. Thursday, one of the doctors called me into his office. His search engine was set on Bing instead of Google. Can I fix it? Of course I can. I went to settings, options, search engines and set Google as the default. Crisis averted. An hour later he called me back into his office. His new computer crashed. He looked devastated. I took a moment to assess the situation. The screen was blank. The computer was not on but the clock on the desk was also off. Now it was time for the IT(hink) department to swing into action. If nothing is on, it means there is no electrical connection. I looked under his desk and saw that the surge protector was off. Upon further examination, I saw that the surge protector was no longer plugged into the wall. His foot must have dislodged it. I plugged it back in and like magic everything lit up and turned on. The IT(hink) department came through again.

One Minute

At one time or another we have all said, "One minute", Give me a minute", or "In a minute". Have any of us ever "taken a minute" for ourselves? One minute to have our own personal space with our own thoughts. Even better, one minute without any thoughts. I have decided to give myself "The gift of a minute". At least twice ever day, I will separate myself from the world for a minute. I can do this anywhere I am. I can sit down, close my eyes and focus on nothing. It is not an easy thing to do because our minds are so full of nonsense. I did this yesterday and timed the minute. It seemed very long. I actually peeked at my watch two times to see if the timer was broken. Once I realized that a minute alone is a very long time, I went with the flow. This is a learning process and I will give it time to become a natural part of my day. It will be worth it.

Behind the Scenes

Yesterday my boss was on television. She had a segment on the news explaining mental illness. She had been on this channel a few months ago also. She was interviewed by a famous newscaster. He has been calling our office to set things up and we are less excited than we previously were when we see his caller ID. I watched the show with my father. He knows I have been running her office for almost 17 years. As I was telling this to my father, I realized that my boss has a strong team behind the scenes. I thought of all of the things that I do to hold her office together, from the mundane to the critical. No one knows our names or faces and that is fine. We just do our jobs.

Human Reaction

We are all human beings no matter what our job is. In the moment, we all react on instinct. This week there has been a lot of press on the Pope slapping a woman's hand. Being the Pope does not supersede being human. A woman grabbed his hand and would not let go. He tried to pull away but she obviously had a tight grip. His security was not quick enough to remedy the problem. His instinct kicked in and he slapped her hand to get his loose. Why is he being criticized? He is entitled to have his hand back, even if his position as Pope calls for understanding and compassion. She was wrong and he was right. Leave the man alone.

Senior Diet

I woke up this morning with an ache in my upper leg. I am not sure if it is my hip. I hobbled down the stairs to get ready for work. I lined up my food for breakfast and lunch and realized that I am not only feeling old, I am eating old. Breakfast is a bowl of raisin bran with a sliced banana. Lunch is a bowl of soup. That is a senior citizen's diet. Dinner will be chicken with a plate of "lokshen" (noodles in Yiddish). My diet is reflecting my age and I don't know how this happened.

1/1/2020

It is the first day of the first month of an eye opening year. Twenty twenty not only represents the date on the calendar. Hopefully it will also represent the day people open their eyes and clearly see life. Human nature has hard wired us to see what is comforting and beneficial to ourselves. It is not easy to see from all angles. A panoramic view is more complicated. Most people see in tunnel vision. Maybe 2020 will wake us up to the fact that there is a 360 degree world around us. We need to look at the total scope of life. We must see things from other points of view and adjust the lens if necessary. Being shortsighted never works. Take the time to see how you affect others with your actions. Look at their perspective and honestly evaluate. Look at yourself and evaluate. See the picture clearly with 20/20 vision.