To Yearn is To Envy
Not everybody is the same; I am sure we all figured that out at one point in our lives. But there is something that we all have in common. I do not believe that there is one person in the world who doesn’t have this.
It’s problems.
No matter how rich or poor, big or small, sighted or not, we all have problems.
Just like those in Blind Beginnings, I have a vision impairment and there are times throughout my life where I yearned for the vision my friends and family have. In my head, I thought things like:
“There is so much that they can do.”
“If only I could see the way they do, I’d get so far.”
Those are things I thought. My envy consumed me to a point where I felt frustrated when someone I knew complained about their problems.
I thought to myself. “Why are you complaining? At least you don’t have to worry about getting hit by a ball in PE or missing class for Braille and mobility lessons.”
“You complain about temporary things, while I have to struggle with something permanent; my vision. I wish you could see how lucky you are!”
I grew a disliking to those who complained.
But who am I disliking? Everyone? Everyone complains, because everyone has problems.
They might have sight, but they don’t have something else, there is something that they yearn for just as I do for vision.
Even though we think it is, the grass is never green on the other side, it’s just that everyone has something in their garden that makes their grass look greener. Meanwhile, they too are also looking at other people's gardens, wishing to have their grass. Heck, the garden that they are looking at could even be mines.
I have a problem, I cannot see as well as everyone else. Some people do not have that problem, but they have other problems. One who could see better than I can could be living on the streets; their problem is not their vision, but where they will stay. I don’t have their problem; I have a warm home. It’s just a cycle of envy, and the only way to stop it is by understanding that we all have problems, even those you admire. We will all struggle with problems, and don’t make it your problem to wish to be someone else because that person you wish to be doesn’t stop struggling; that person you wish to be will just have a different problem.
I am older now. I still go through problems, people I know have problems, you who is reading this, you have problems. But at the end of the day, I am grateful for who I am and what I have.
Another thing about problems is that they are less of a burden when it’s shared among others. It’s nice to be able to relate with people around you. It makes you feel less lonely, and you find yourself smiling and nodding when they share similar problems with others. You’d hear lines like:
“Ah! Yes, that is so annoying!”
“Oh, that happened to me too!”
“We all been there.”
If you are visionally impaired and you are wanting to lighten the weight of your problems, come to Blind Beginnings.
There are so many people I found myself relating to and my problem has felt less like a problem after joining the Youth Leadership Program that Blind Beginnings offer.
contributed by a 17 year old Youth Leadership Program Participant