Life Delivers Unexpected Improvements at 60

When I turned 60, an unexpected change occurred that inspired me to write this article. Since the age of 10, I had worn contact lenses to correct for my extreme nearsightedness.

But in the last few years, that solution had begun to work less well. After turning 56, I found myself wearing reading glasses a good bit of the time to do my work. I developed glaucoma about the same time and had to use eye drops that left my eyes sore, swollen, and dry.

Contact lens wearing became increasingly difficult. By the evening, I would just take out my lenses and read without glasses or contact lenses by pressing the book up against my nose. I was heading back to where I was at age 9 before anyone knew I couldn't see very well.

When I was 59, I remembered that my mother had promised me as an 11-year-old that someday I wouldn't have to use anything to correct my vision. I thought I might have glimpsed the fulfillment of her promise a few days later while watching Tiger Woods play golf at a local tournament.

The great golfer had had laser surgery to correct his vision a few years earlier. I was impressed to see him staring steely-eyed at the flags while strong winds blinded me with dirt that interfered with my contact lenses.

At my next eye appointment, I asked my delightful ophthalmologist, Dr. Miriam Dougherty, if someone with glaucoma could have laser surgery for vision correction. She said sure and recommended I see one of the top laser surgeons in the country, Dr. Peter Rapoza.

I was pleased to hear the news and even happier when Dr. Rapoza's assistant informed me that the first visit was free to check to see if I was a good candidate for the surgery. Dr. Rapoza turned out to be a tall, distinguished-looking man who somewhat resembled the actor George Clooney. He obviously liked people and did everything he could to be kind and helpful. You feel comfortable in his presence no matter what he has to tell you.

Peter had good and bad news for me. I could certainly use the laser surgery to improve my vision, but I also had cataracts that were so bad they should be immediately removed. He recommended that I have cataract surgery and later follow up with laser surgery if anything wasn't visually perfect after the cataracts were gone.

He explained that during cataract surgery a new lens is implanted in each eye that corrects distance vision and many people find that solution avoids the need for laser corrections. I subsequently had both eyes operated on and unexpectedly ended up with the best vision of my life.

I could now see 20/20 (or average) at a distance. My near vision improved so much that for most close-up tasks I could see better without reading glasses than with them. It was like being physically reborn in a way . . . except with improvements.

With cataracts everything is dark and yellow. After the surgeries I could see that snow was still white, whereas before the surgeries I had been very concerned about the way pollution had made snow so yellow! In addition, night lights previously blurred everything into a big amorphous halo.

Now I could see unlit objects quite clearly with only starlight to help me. I woke up every day to see everything around me perfectly. That had never happened before in my life.

This astonishing personal experience taught me that progress can occur faster than even optimists realize. In my lifetime, technology improvements had taken me from being a virtually blind person to someone who has almost flawless vision at age 60 without any personal effort.

Let me talk about optimism for a moment. Researchers have observed that optimists often accomplish more than realists and pessimists. Why? Optimists try more things and stick to their efforts longer. The realist or pessimist may stop short of trying or trying again, just at the brink of success.

But it's not enough just to be an optimist. You need to do something based on your optimism. Optimists who never do anything except expect the best results are often referred to as day dreamers. Extreme optimists who think about what's maybe over the rainbow are often dismissed as crackpots, or worse.

I'm a different sort of optimist: an intensely practical one. I want to see results . . . and soon. I'm impatient. I do everything fast and wish I could go faster: There is so much that needs to be done that most people ignore.

That's one reason I was so pleased by my experience with cataract surgery; here was practical progress that helped me tremendously and happened on its own. Wouldn't it be great if great improvements in all kinds of areas I care about occurred without my effort?

Copyright 2008 Donald W. Mitchell, All Rights Reserved