Start your day with anxiety. First thing. Every morning for last month. Sharp pain for 75 seconds. Then poof. Gone. Until the next morning. I google it. Up pops Just Answer. Eye with a customer question describing the identical experience:
I wake up every morning with a sharp pain in what I believe is my optic nerve. The pain is so bad that it sometimes makes my eye water when I try to open it wide. It is also painful to press on my eye when closed. The pain is always in my left eye and there are some days that I wake up without pain. My eye does not seem to be more red or bloodshot than normal. The pain does subside as the day goes on and I haven’t experienced any vision problems.
I quickly close my eye and pain subsides. Water fills the vacuum. (The human body is. All on its own. Repairing. Soothing. A miracle.)
I open and close several times. Blinking. (The body is a miracle. The mind, my mind, on the other hand, can be a torture chamber. I need to see. I need to read. Heart begins to race. Relax pal. Just Answer Doc said it’s just dry eyes. Yes, that was the first line. And the rest? What about the rest? This will right itself by itself.)
What if?
Mind quickly shifts gears to Sunday’s paper.
You are four years old. You run to answer the door bell. Life from that moment on changes. For you. For your family. Forever.
Josh Miel, you define courage. You define perseverance. You are an inspiration.
(On the other hand, you pal, have dry eyes.)
“It’s not that I don’t want to be written about,” he said. “I’d like to be as famous as the next person would, but I want to be famous for the right reasons, for the work I’ve done, and not for some stupid thing that happened to me 40 years ago.”
– Josh Miel
On Oct. 5, 1973, Miel, 4 years old, answered the door at his home and a deranged man poured sulfuric acid on his head. Miel suffered severe burns and disfigurement to his face and body. He endured countless skin grafts and operations. His perception of himself as being blind shifted over the years, from not identifying with those who had no sight to becoming aggressively proud of his blindness. Josh Miele lives today in Berkeley, Calif., on a beautiful block of 1920s cottages, with his wife, Liz, and their two children. Josh has a degree in physics and a Ph.D. in psychoacoustics from the University of California at Berkeley. He took several breaks, years long, while getting his undergraduate degree, and worked full time for the technology company Berkeley Systems on software to help blind people navigate graphics-based computer programs. He worked for NASA on software for the Mars Observer. He is the president of the board of directors of the San Francisco LightHouse for the Blind. He plays bass in a band. And he works as an associate scientist at a nonprofit research center.
~ Wendell Jamison, New York Times: The Crime of His Childhood.
Image Source: NaturallyErratic.
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Live & Learn 
I read about Josh as well, remaining moved and over-awed. Did your morning anxiety start after you read the article?
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The NY Times article hasn’t left my consciousness since I read it this weekend. Awe is the appropriate word. As to my anxiety, it turns on when I wake up. Sun rises. Anxiety fires up. 🙂
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Wow ~ thanks for sharing his amazing story with us!
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It is an amazing story…it certainly is….
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I know someone who had dry eyes, he put artificial drops until it came back of its own, it was very painful… excruciating pain but not threatening by any means.
Anxiety is treated through many alternative therapies as, acupuncture or EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) if one does not appreciate needles… We are so spoiled today with so much novelty in that area and so much access to information, it would be a pity not to exploit it;
Good luck
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Thank you for the insight. I need to get on the drops thing. And fast. Thanks again.
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Inspiring story, thank you for sharing. As for your anxiety and the pain associated with it, Gay Hendricks (The Big Leap) would say it is an Upper Limit Problem that is keeping you from entering your Zone of Genius. From what I feel like I know about you from your posts, it might be worth checking out.
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Carolann, I’m on it. Thanks for the recommendation. Here’s the link if others are interested. http://www.amazon.com/Big-Leap-Conquer-Hidden-Level/dp/0061735361
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Inspiration and perspective. Thank you.
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It is LaDona. It really is.
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Speechless … what an inspiring story. Thanks for sharing.
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It is an incredible story Laurie. It’s been on my mind all week.
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Sorry you have dry eye, there is treatment right? I want you to be all better… That was a really great story you shared. Thank you.
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Yes, I’m starting with drops Sheri. And it had better work. 🙂 Thank you.
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Every time I read about an individual such as Josh Miel, I am humbled. What amazing strength of character! Thx for sharing his story, David!
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Yes, me too Lori. Me too.
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Behind every outstanding story, behind every wonderful book and behind every successful person there has been some kind of pain which makes them reach such heights.
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Yes Sonia, and what pain this man has seen. And how he has overcome.
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What a great attitude & so much accomplished. There is some who is a victor not a victim.
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Yes, he certainly is Lorne
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Amazing story of an amazing person…
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It is amazing Ioanna
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Such an inspiring story!
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It really is Judy
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