Man has so many times proven that he can rise above adversities, that he can conquer the ends of the world, and that he can do what seemingly is impossible. Scott MacIntyre, who qualifies for the latest American Idol season, is legally blind from childhood. He is from Scottsdale, Arizona, very gifted - being able to finish college at 19 and then pursued and finished his master's degree in Performance Studies at Royal College of Music and Royal Holloway University of London. Though visually impaired, he plays the piano as well as he sings. He has a soothing baritone voice that betrays his real condition. His is a very hopeful story and I was inspired.
I'm not visually impaired. I have my both eyes intact; however, I wear prescription glasses...and I complain a lot about life. I do not know, but I seemed to have lost hope and the inspiration to move on and continue with life. Some said mine is a case of burnout. Others advised that I need to rest and take a breather, a much needed vacation. One said I ought to have a sabbatical leave. They are all correct. But what caused me to have lost the zeal for life? I need to know for after all the leaves, the vacations and the rests, I may face it (them?) again, then as if nothing happens at all.
Scott will forever be blind but he is so hopeful. Hear him sing and listen that he does it with all the passion his heart could muster, with all the hope that something better, something grander is to come. I envy his heart. I envy his hope for that something. Could it be the lack of vision that makes him see life much better than I do. Could it be my clear vision that has causing me all the troubles now? A friend once told me that people far from the chaotic complexities of urban life have fewer life conflicts and problems to deal with. I have seen a lot. I have been through a lot. Could I now be paying the price for having seen so much more than I can handle?
Could life would have been much better if I were blind? I play the piano too but not as well as Scott. A blind man compensates for what he lacks. He listens well to discriminate sounds and uses his sense of touch to his utmost advantage. Because I have both my eyes, could I have not been listening well to people around me? Could I have desensitized my nerves that I no longer know how to reach out and touch others in their inmost sanctum? I might not have developed a listening heart because I just have to see what I needed to hear. I failed to listen. I might not have been so sensitive of how others' feel because I just have to see them with my soulful brown eyes. I failed to touch.
I don't know. I am still sad today and I am now more confused if this could have been caused by my eyes. I don't want to blame Him for giving me clear vision. It may have been be that I was not using both my eyes the way they are intended to be. I have voluntarily blinded myself with what is going on around me, and because I depended so much on my vision, I failed to develop more my ears to listen well, and my touch to reach out to many. I think it is not yet too late to learn from Scott. I think it is not yet to late to be hopeful, to see the grander things and to be happy again; however, how I wish I can see how.
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