You Don't Need Your Eyesight To See

You don’t need your eyesight to see?! You read right.

Very few believe me when I explain that I can see clearer now with only 2% eyesight, that is made up of only blurry black and white shadows, than when I had perfect, 20-20 vision. To be honest, I can understand their confusion. A man who is blind telling someone who is fully sighted that they can see just as well, if not better than, they can seems a bit ridiculous. I  would have said it was ridiculous too until losing my eyesight overnight at age 16.

After coming to terms with my loss of vision and slowly regaining my confidence, I was able to get to a point where I felt 'normal' again. I was back hanging out with my old friends, mixing and making friends with new people and beginning to see new possibilities despite my circumstances. Then something unusual was brought to my attention, multiple times. One of my friends whom I had been close to long before losing my sight said to me one day, “Ben, your new friends don’t really look like your type of friends”.The first time it happened, I didn’t think much of it. However, after a second and a third time, being told similar things or asked similar questions by people that had been apart of my life before losing my sight, it got me thinking. Soon enough it dawned on me. The people around me that were asking me these questions were 'right' but that definitely wasn't as negative as they were making out. Without being fully aware, before losing my eyesight, I was letting my vision get in the way of potential relationships due to pre conceived ideas that my eyesight created. I may have used to only be friends with people that appeared a certain way however, I was now forced to see the world free of judgement. This was the discovery of True Vision.

True Vision is a transformed perspective that changed the way I saw myself plus everything and everyone around me. No longer was I seeing myself, the people around me and situations from the outside in, instead I was now taking the time to see from the inside out. It was such a rewarding discovery! Although it took me to lose my eyesight to discover my True Vision, I now know that you do not have to have such an extreme change in your life. It is simply a shift in mindset that can allow you to see yourself and the world so much clearer.

Once I had accepted my new situation and begun to see with True Vision, I started to dream again. I could embraced the challenges I knew life would throw my way and I actually began to thrive off them. But this did not happen overnight . It took over 18 months to start believing in myself again. Realising that I was capable of achieving big things in life despite my situation when the limitless aspirations started to grow. Soon enough, I was signing myself up for challenges that to most would be considered impossible for someone with a visual impairment. From Spartan Obstacle Course Races and the Southern 80 water skiing race, to purchasing a Quad Bike and even learning how to water ski again with no sight are some of the challenges I've taken head on to date, with many more on the horizon. Not only had I accepted the situation I was in, I was now seeing with another form of vision, Limitless Vision. No longer could I see the limits that surround all of us and hold us back from achieving our dreams and goals. Instead I was focussing on adopting a positive attitude to know that my circumstances did not have to dictate what I could or could not achieve. Limitless Vision helps me feel free and independent despite my visual impairment and I believe that not being able to see all the surrounding limits has a really positive impact on how I chase my dreams and it plays a big role in turning my aspirations into achievements.

Don’t get me wrong, being blind is not easy. It has a lot of challenges and I have my down days where I let it control me instead of controlling it. Overall though, embracing my visual impairment empowered me to discover True and Limitless Vision in my life. These forms of vision help me see myself, the people around me and situations clearer than ever before and the best part is that you do not have to lose your eyesight to see with True and Limitless Vision. Be aware when your eyesight is impacting the true judgement of yourself, others or situations and see past the limits that your circumstances place on you. Remember, you don;t need your eyesight to see. With True and Limitless Vision the you can see clearer than ever before and the possibilities are limitless.