eye exam

by

Your Agenda May Not Be Your Agenda At All

It seems like everyone has an agenda for you, whether you like it or not.

your agenda may not be your agenda at all

People like to impose their agenda on you and sometimes they don’t even realize they’re doing it. 

I went to an eye clinic the other day to follow up on some tests I had had concerning an issue that resulted from my on-ice collision several weeks ago. (You can read about it here).

I was there to get the results from about seven tests they had done on my eyes at the previous appointment.

I was a little concerned going in to see the ophthalmologist because I didn’t think I had done very well on a few of the tests. But when I sat with the eye doctor he really had a different agenda than to give me feedback on the tests.

The eye specialist is no different from anyone else.

When I say to Lily, “I’m going to the store”, her response is always the same – “What store are you going to?” And I know that question means trouble. Either she wants to know where I’m going so that I can pick something up for her, or she wants to come with me.

No matter her response, there is always an agenda in her answer. 

If she wants to come with me, that most likely nixes my agenda for my shopping trip. Somehow the trip becomes Lily’s trip with me just tagging along. We end up going into several women’s clothing stores or a home furnishing store, or stopping at the grocery store for a few items we can’t do without.

And all I wanted was a shirt! So much for my agenda.

Well that’s how I felt at the eye doctor’s. 

He told me my eye structure was similar to one with glaucoma, not that I have or will necessarily ever get it. He wanted me to see an optometrist on a yearly basis so that they could monitor my eye health as I age.

I was kind of discouraged by all that. I just wanted to know how I did on the tests and how my eyes are now. It had been about 27 years since I’d been to an eye doctor and discovered I needed reading glasses. Now, all of a sudden, I was being told I need to be monitored for potential eye issues.  

Feeling a little frustrated, I asked the doc, “How are my eyes now? How did I do on the tests?”

His response was, “Your eyes are very good; you did really well on the tests.”  

There was one I was particularly concerned about and he said I did perfect on that test. 

I walked out of the clinic that day a little miffed that I would be called in a year for another appointment. If I hadn’t have asked, I would not have found out what I wanted to know.

The appointment was all the eye doctor’s agenda, not mine.

Here’s the thing: We all have an agenda for our own lives and an idea of what we think is best for it. There are also other people who will seek to impose their agendas on you. But God has an agenda for you. His agenda is worth joining because God knows you and what’s best for you so His agenda will lead you to the best outcome in the long run. Put you faith in Christ to link with God’s agenda. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: Whose agenda are you following these days? Leave you comments and questions below.

Subscribe to my blog and receive posts like this one to your email inbox weekly.

by

Confidence Is Fragile And Can Evaporate Easily

It is sometimes the little things that give you confidence in someone … or not. 

confidence is fragile and can evaporate easily

In my last post I wrote about my experience of going to the urgent care unit at the hospital (read about that here).  

I got hit while playing hockey and later that day saw some flashing lights in my peripheral vision. The urgent care unit couldn’t help me. So first they made an appointment for me with the eye clinic and second, I guess it wasn’t that urgent. 

The next day I arrived at the eye clinic for my follow-up. I was really hoping that someone would actually look at my eye this time. 

The good thing was that they did. I was escorted to a dimly lit room and asked to sit in a chair that pointed directly at a light panel. The light panel was on the wall at the far end of the room.  

They had me read the letters that came up on the panel, put drops in my eyes and then sent me back to the waiting room.

Not long after that, I was summoned to exam room 6. No one came to get me; the announcement came over the intercom, sort of like an announcement at Walmart, “There’s a blue light special over in aisle 6”. 

Fortunately, I could still see well so I found my way to the exam room and was greeted by a resident. He asked me a couple of questions and then started poking around my eye. He flashed light in my eyes and pushed on my eye while he had me look in different directions up and down, to one side, then the other. 

My eye got a good workout. 

He then wanted to do another test but first needed to turn my chair around and recline me back in it. 

The problem was that the chair wouldn’t move. He tried a couple of times and nothing. So he said, “Just a minute” and left the room.

When he came back, he had another resident with him, full of confidence. He tried to move my chair as well, but it wouldn’t budge. He then simply reached to the side, moved a lever, said “the lock was on” and left.

… That didn’t give me a lot of confidence in the resident who was working on my eye! 

After some more eye gymnastics, he told me what was wrong and said he would report this to the doctor.

When the doctor came in and looked at my eye, she told me I have a vitreous detachment, which happens naturally when we age. However, my hockey collision likely caused it to detach quickly, creating in some large floaters. 

Nothing can be done and my eye was not damaged.

Hearing her diagnosis gave me confidence that things would be alright. 

I had little confidence in the resident. … When he couldn’t move an examination chair, you have to wonder how many of these exams he had done. 

I walked out squinting because my eyes were dilated to the size of a nickels, but confident I got the right diagnosis in the end. 

Here’s the thing: Confidence can evaporate quickly with the slightest thing, often because we have put our confidence in ourselves or others. If you put your confidence in God, you can rely on His wisdom, His care and His power to diagnose and respond to every issue.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: In who or what do you tend to first put your confidence in? Leave your comments and question below.

Subscribe to my blog and receive posts like this one to your email weekly.