Today, my dear friend Lila sent me a Frank Bruni opinion piece in the New York Times called, “Am I Going Blind?”

In it, Bruni summarizes the emotions he felt after he suddenly lost vision in one eye and learns a rare condition may completely steal his eyesight.

Bruni says, “I went to bed believing that I was more or less in control — that the unfinished business, unrealized dreams and other disappointments in my life were essentially failures of industry and imagination, and could probably be redeemed with a fierce enough effort. I woke up to the realization of how ludicrous that was.”

Unfortunately, Bruni discovered what people, like me, who live with autoimmune diseases or chronic illnesses understand. The unpredictability of the conditions we live with means some things/tasks may be elusive.

Luckily, he got advice from Joseph Lovett, a documentary filmmaker. Lovett told Bruni, “you cannot spend your life preparing for future losses.” Bruni added that, “It disrespects the blessings of the here and now.” I firmly believe this is true. I think every day is different, sometimes scary, but it is also a call to forge forward with what you have rather than dwelling on what you’ve lost.

Read days 1-55: https://nikabeamon.com

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