A New Frame of Reference

I recently got new glasses, paired with a new prescription, and it took my eyes a full 24 hours to adjust to the new script. I’ve spent the last day dealing with enough headaches to keep me in bed all day. Personally, I think my eyes would be brimming with joy to finally see clearly with lenses to meet their imperfect needs, but that was not the case. Because every time I get new glasses, even if the script is the same, I always forget that I need to get used to the new frames as well. The new pair is wider whereas my old pair was longer; the old lenses were thinner, these are thicker. It’s the little details that really make the difference of how I see the world around me, I suppose.

I couldn’t help wondering how often I get caught up living my life like wearing a new pair of glasses. Often times, I keep my glasses for too long; forcing myself to see through old views, even when I need to change. So when I finally do make the effort to get a new pair, it still takes me forever to see through the new view correctly. See (pun intended), even when I have the means to look at life through new scopes and ideas, it takes my head some time to get used to these new concepts. I see clearer, but I’m so used to seeing things slightly out of focus that I can’t rush into the new sights like I want. I have to wait for things to settle down before I act on the clear views. And I’m quite impatient.

When I feel like I’ve learned a lesson, I expect the lesson to be a closed chapter that I can move on from right then and there. I think I’ll either remember it for the rest of my life, or I’ll never make the same choices again. But that is rarely the case. Often, lessons come in waves, and when you’re hit with one, you can expect more to come regarding the same topic. That’s just how life is: nothing is stable, circumstances and views are always changing. I have to get used to seeing things clearly again, and given my history, I need to expect things to fuzz out again eventually. The more I learn, the more I understand I don’t know. I’m not discouraged by this. It just means I’m changing, I’m growing, and all I can do in the meantime before the next lesson is enjoy the clarity and keep moving forward. Sometimes that just means sitting down and reflecting before jumping into the next lesson.