The older we get, the more frequently we complain about vision issues. Annual checkups, prescription changes, and spending hundreds on corrective devices become the norm.
My latest checkup did not include any corrective change for the first time in years.
But I did get a new pair of frames on the last day the warranty expired because an earpiece broke off at the hinge. That was a first. Not the breakage but the replacement.
Two years ago, for the first time, my newly retired doctor warned me of cataracts beginning to show up. “Surgery…” would someday be required. “You will start to notice a cloudy experience that has nothing to do with the weather.” He was right. I do.
I know someone in a desperate world who needs surgery now, but there are many hindrances faced to getting insurance involved – current health and limited mobility are tremendous obstacles. His vision is just about gone as the cataracts cloud up his eyes.
I’m thankful for my vision. Take my hearing, but let me see!
This brings me to the point I’m stressing through.
Vision. Natural, spiritual, financial, health, and corralling all the stressors into one life left to live. As we move through this late stage of life and barely 1/4 into the new century, I can feel the pressure mounting to make better decisions.
No longer do I have a lifetime to get things correct. That clock is ticking down quickly. I plan on living to 100, and I think of President Jimmy Carter, who just passed at 100 and then died. It took enormous effort and finances to keep him going for so long. Am I ready for that? This morning’s headlines: The oldest woman in the world passed at 116 years old.
Can I make it this far? Am I prepared for what life will be like then? What am I not doing that needs to be done? Do I know enough to be ready for life 30-50 years into the future?
At some point, you realize the importance of having a team around you to make the best decisions possible. But can you trust the team to have your best interest in mind? Maybe you need to set up some legal stop-gaps to help your wishes be your plan, not theirs. It’s not just about a last Will but also directives to state your wishes so others will follow them. It’s about having a plan.
Planning is everything, said one General of WWII fame,
but when the battle starts, all plans fall apart.
Regardless of your actions, you better make some decisions now and let your wishes be known.
Vision comes into question. How far down the road can we see? How far do you want to see?
I remember buying gasoline at 11 cents a gallon during a price war between competing gas stations. At about the same time, a can of biscuits cost 10 cents, and all of us kids bought a limit of 10 each to have bread for every meal. Soft drinks were as cheap as a nickel. Penny candy costs just a penny each.
Today? Of course, back then, a living wage might have been $1.25 per hour. Today, the minimum wage in my state just hit $16.66 per hour and is adjusted upwards by local law based on providing a “living wage” to the lowest wage earner.
My aunt told me a dozen years ago, “Don’t retire too soon. Your income remains fixed, but prices keep going up!”
Vision, then, is about the shifting landscape
of technological advances and the cost of paying for the future
If I have another 30 years of life, what can I do to prepare for the future? That’s my focus on vision thinking this week. I need some corrective future lenses to try and second-guess what it will be like then. Capeesh? Comprende? Understand?
I’m trying to…
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