I just had cataract surgery on my right eye about two weeks ago. I tried to stay very curious about my process from intake to the restoration of my sight. In the prep room, the nurses were checking my oxygen saturation with a finger monitor. I looked at the reading and it was 91%! That is too low for me! I realized I was nervous and not breathing much, so I consciously took 3 deep breaths. Within seconds, my oxygen saturation went up to 99%. What a fabulous feedback tool that helped me during the surgery. I was impressed with how quickly my body responded...just 3 breaths! It made me wonder how often I constrict my breathing in the course of a normal day and how deep breaths can do wonders with oxygen nourishment in my system.
The surgery itself was quick and painless. Over the next two days I had a fair bit of eye irritation, and kept my eyes frequently closed, which led to an insight. I am a VERY visual person! I felt disconnected from a lot of things.....my family, my knitting, where I was being driven to in the car, etc. Even though I could hear and touch and see (in a cloudy fashion) I realized how much energy I pour into and through my eyes, often with a lot of strain and "seeking" out. I use my eyes to orient to the world and that was very different in these two days. So I made an effort to lean back....to listen and feel and rest. It was not always easy.
When I awakened on the third day, the cloudiness had disappeared and oh my! Colors were vivid, edges and lines were sharp and clear! There was a brightness I didn't realize I had missed for the last year or so. I was seeing SO clearly through my right eye! I began to wonder how much I miss seeing or hearing or touching in my life. What has become fuzzy or cloudy or dull or so routine that I tune it out? What am I missing right now? How much aliveness am I not paying attention to?
Since the surgery, I have made a conscious effort to attend to life's details more clearly, yet softly, with hopefully less strain over time. I do realize that our nervous system does a good job of screening out much of what could be very overwhelming input to our senses. Yet I have a clue that my life could be richer if I pay more attention, a little bit at a time, every day. I invite you to try the same!