[Nfbf-l] Sight is Required

Mon Jun 27 00:02:55 UTC 2011

Sight is not required, to love, to care for others. I'm blessed in that I 
was born this way, I was born with the caractoristic of blindness, and I 
would not change it for anything in the world. Yes, I'd loved to see my 
nieces, but I know I'd be disappointed, if for a brief moment I could see, 
then I'd get so use to seeing that I'd take it for granted, then I'd become 
blind and loose all hope. Rather than dwell on the fact I can't see, I think 
of ways I can help my blind friends cope with their blindness!
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "craig kiser" <sckiser55 at earthlink.net>
To: "NFB of Florida Internet Mailing List" <nfbf-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, June 26, 2011 6:20 PM
Subject: Re: [Nfbf-l] Sight is Required


> Matt, Kenneth Jernigan once said to me back in 1968 that he was asked what 
> he would be willing to pay to become sighted.  He said, after thinking 
> about it, that he thought he would probably be willing to pay about $5000 
> to have sight.  Remember, this was in 1968, so in today's money it might 
> be as much as $1,000 to $20,000.  What he was saying is that sight is 
> valuable, but not priceless.  At the time, he was probably earning about 
> $30,000 per year.  If he were sighted, would he have greater earning 
> capacity?  Probably not.  He loved his job and was at the top of his field 
> with recognition nationwide, including a Presidential Citation.
>  I've often thought about what he said to me and tried to answer the 
> question myself.  I've come to realize that sight hasn't held me back 
> financially or in self-satisfaction.  I realized that I'm prone to be 
> lazy.  In school, I only did what I had to for a passing grade.  If I 
> hadn't lost my sight, I probably would have continued to just work enough 
> to get by.  However, being blind I had to work harder to get by.  After a 
> hile, I was able to overcome my inate laziness.  Would that have happened 
> if I hadn't become blind?  I
> can't say for certain, but there wouldn't have been the same need to work 
> harder.  In his book The Adversity Advantage Erik Weihenmayer talks about 
> how adversity, including having a disability motivates us to do more.
>  Kenneth Jernigan once gave a speech about how everyone has some 
> disability-too tall, too short, too fat, too skinny, left handed or 
> needing glasses.  How we deal with our disability has more to do with 
> success and self esteem than the disability itself.  Spending our lives 
> waiting for a miracle cure for height, weight or sight is a far greater 
> waste of time than watching television or social networking on a computer. 
> In my case, I've had a successful career as an attorney, as Deputy 
> Comptroller of Florida and as Director of the Division of Blind 
> Services-all as a blind person.  I've fished, hiked, camped and climbed 
> mountains-again, all as a blind person.  I have thoroughly enjoyed every 
> job I've had  These were the same goals in life I had before becoming 
> blind at age 20.  I can honestly say that blindness did not hold me back 
> in any way.
>  Would I like to be able to see?  Of course.  I would also like to be 
> better looking, taller and stronger.  Does that mean I'm willing to spend 
> myself into bankrupsy on cosmetic surgery, body building or surgery to 
> make me taller?  No, it isn't worth it to me.  More and more, I wish I 
> were younger.  Will I spend my life searching for the Fountain of Youth?
> No, I'm too busy living.  What I'm saying is, yes, we should support 
> research into sight restoration, but not to the exclusion of efforts to 
> educate the public about blindness and the myths of blindness.  As Kenneth 
> Jernigan and I both concluded, we need to put our desire for sight into 
> proper perspective.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Matt Roberts <blindbiker at yahoo.com
> To: Nfbf-l at nfbnet.org
> Date sent: Sun, 26 Jun 2011 15:13:43 -0400
> Subject: [Nfbf-l] Sight is Required
>
> I have been doing a lot of soul searching.  Sadly I have come up with a 
> realization that will be foreign to most of you, but feel I should share 
> it anyway.
> We can create all the artificial things we want to allow us to be like 
> everyone else, but it won't do it.  Most things I ike to do require sight, 
> and there is no getting around it! The only way to be able to fully enjoy 
> my life is if I get full vision, or enough to allow me to not appear 
> blind.  Blindness is the most feared thing most people "see" and nothing 
> we can do will change that!
> Instead of worrying about a small aspect of society such as driving, we 
> need to focus on seeing.
> That's my goal, to see! We will see ways eye conditions can be reversed. 
> It may not happen tomorrow, but it will happen.  When mine is reversed, 
> I'll be able to enjoy all the things which are closed off to me right now. 
> I don't choose to live my life as a blind person.  Why? All blind people 
> do is sit home and live on the phone and computer or watch TV all day. 
> Very few of us are working, and are relying on the government to support 
> us.  That's not the kind of life I choose to live!
> Before you tell me I'm not fully adjusted to my disability, I'd ask you 
> are you fully adjusted? You never fully adjust to not being able to do 
> things you once did or want to do.  Anyone who tells you they are fully 
> adjusted to being blind is not telling the truth.
> I can't predict exactly when , but in a few years, when eye conditions are 
> being reversed, I hope you'll take advantage it this.  A few cases of 
> blindness have been reversed.  It can openly get better!
>
>
> Matt Roberts blindbiker at yahoo.com
>
>
>
>
>
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