A real eye opener-- no pun intended

Today's topic: Personal injuries and the bigger picture

For those out there reading SS this week who don't already know, I was struck with a nasty body injury this week. I want to put you in the drivers seat here and give you the black and white of what actually happened and what went through my mind when it did happen. I play in a fairly competitive baseball league with some of my best friends and we are in our playoffs right now. I was playing third base with two outs in the top of the ninth. I need you to keep in mind that the field we play on has relatively good up-keep but has a deep history of producing some nasty injuries throughout the years. The ball that hit me in the face came off a bat on a play that I would make 90% of the time. After taking an ugly bounce, the ball took a bounce over my glove, and hit me where, what felt like, directly on my eye. For those of you who have had a sports injury, you know that you don't have time to react because many sports involve some sort of high velocity object coming towards your body at some point during the game. And when something goes wrong, you have no control over what happens next. My initial reaction was to try and open my eye (which I couldn't) and I instantly thought the worst in thinking, "I just lost eyesight in my left eye." It's pretty serious stuff people. I know as humans, our initial reaction is concern. Our next initial reaction for most is to gawk at the injury or maybe to smile, giggle or make a smart ass comment...of course, one you know the person is alright. I was bartending this weekend so trust me when I say there isn't an eye joke I haven't heard or a smart ass comment that I haven't received. I'm a good sport about it because that's the kind of person I am. The other thing I realize is that people CAN joke about it because I can still function and even though I have a nasty shiner and 12 stitches above my eyebrow, my injury isn't life threatening and by this time next week, my body will hopefully be back to normal; whatever normal means.

However, there is a much deeper lesson learned from a personal injury like the one I'm currently experiencing. I woke up the next morning and my eye was swollen shut from the impact of the previous night. As my day progressed, I realized how much we take our five senses for granted. You wake up every morning after a night of sleep and expect that both of your eyes will open. Now think about waking up and not being able to open up one eye. Now think about not being able to open up two eyes. Now consider the possibility that you go to sleep one night and you wake up the next morning only to find out that you're blind. Or deaf. Or you can't smell. Or your arms and legs don't work. Yes, it's terrifying. Now consider what you wouldn't be able to do or how much your world closes on you.

Some are blessed and never lose their senses until they are already dead. They wake up and go to bed without the worry about how they are going to function the next day or how they are going to get through their daily routine. They are the lucky ones. Others who aren't so fortunate battle with a routine that limits their possibilities and what they can accomplish. Some never see the glorious natural wonders of the world, the sight of love, fear or happiness. Others never get the chance to smell the roses or be a part of a team that requires body movements. To me, that is a life tragedy and there is nothing funny about a person in a wheelchair, a walking stick or hearing aids. I went on a hike last week with my girlfriend and was in awe of all the magnificent larger than life trees, natural rock caves and enormous limestone structures. At the end of the hike, I thought to myself how lucky I was to soak in the natural world with all my senses. This week, I almost lost some of my eyesight. Yes people, that's how fast life changes.

Now without trying to sound too much like I'm preaching, just remember that life does have curve balls (I'm sorry I couldn't resist a baseball reference). But we choose to take on challenges without hesitation that is usually dependent on our comfort level. However, remember that most are fortunate enough to have that choice and that in itself is something that you must never take for granted. Even though we all lead different lives, there is at least one person somewhere that wishes they were you, young or old. You don't always know it and you might not even ever hear it. But we have all at one point said to ourselves, " I wonder what it's like to be....." or "I wish I could be...." Be blessed that you're happy, healthy and hopefully, still have all your senses because without one of those things, your daily routine wouldn't be pulled off with such ease and grace. Take it from a guy who was recently blind in one of his eyes; life becomes way more difficult. You don't realize what "sucks" until you have an eye opener experience.