This past weekend, I found myself in one of those “woe is me” moods, which, fortunately, don’t hit me too often. The amount of consulting work that needed to be done by Monday seemed overwhelming, I’d fallen pretty badly behind on writing my new book on leading “out-of-the-box” change, and on top of that I was struggling with a cold that wouldn’t go away. Some TLC would’ve pepped me up, but, alas, my wife Barbara was in North Carolina on a buying trip for her interior design business, so I was stuck with my morose self.
Fortunately, I lucked into the perfect antidote to self-pity: a dose of Virginia Jacko, the blind CEO of the Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and co-author of our book The Blind Visionary. Sitting at my desk, I noticed a copy of the wonderful interview with Virginia in the October/November issue of “Ability” magazine. Thumbing through it certainly helped to put things in perspective. Here’s Virginia talking about one of the benefits of being blind: “I know this sounds corny, but as a result of my blindness I now have more vision, in some ways. Sight can be a distraction. For example, if you’re at a restaurant, you start to look around, check out what people are wearing, see who’s sitting with whom, or see if you know anybody there. But if you can’t do that, your other senses are heightened: your sense of taste, your sense of hearing.” This isn’t a woman who wastes time bemoaning her fate! Her words did the trick, and I headed for my study feeling like a cloud had lifted – after, that is, counting a few of my many blessings.
“Ability” is a major league magazine, and we’re delighted Virginia was featured. You’ll love the interview. Check it out here.
