The Blind Ambition

You know that moment when you wake up and step outside, and you can literally feel the crisp air and the brisk, blue sky; when everything is so clear and perfect, you feel like you can see all the way to the end of the earth? 

Well, I don’t. 

Truth is – I can’t see that far, nor can I see much closer either.  So, essentially I can’t see.  But to be fair, for a guy that should have been declared legally blind decades ago, I manage to accomplish a number of astounding things on a daily basis.  It takes a tremendous amount of courage and determination to be able to function as a normal human being, listening to and ignoring all the hurtful comments, such as “Hey, watch where you are driving!!!” or “How many fingers am I holding up, sir?”  The negativity is overwhelming, however, on the bright side, I’ve discovered that women love spending time with me since they really don’t have to put on makeup or worry about their appearance!  Every cloud has a silver lining, if you can see it…

Look, let’s be honest – what’s the big fuss all about?  Is it really that important to have perfect, 20/20 vision?  Once, a scared eye doctor even told me that I was missing out on so much, that an improved vision would offer me beauty and understanding of the world in ways that I had not experienced since my childhood.  While I would never argue with any doctor – they’ve read way too many books – I would only remind her and everyone else that beauty is almost always in the eye of the beholder, and being able to see perfectly does not mean you will see a perfectly beautiful world through your new expensive lenses.

I may not always see traffic signs, but I am perfectly happy to miss all the anger and frustration that is on people’s faces …  I might not know what my close friends really look like, but I am absolutely ok not to see the irritation and rage of people arguing with one another about something they don’t even truly understand.  I’d rather be blind than witness a 92-year old woman being shoved to the ground on the streets of New York, randomly and pointlessly.  Are you really sure you want 20/20 vision in today’s upside-down reality?

But maybe it just takes a blind man to clearly see the very fundamental, simple truth.  Despite the prevailing negativity and craziness, we are all insanely fortunate to be alive today, in this day and age, and we should all be praising our lucky stars that we live in the greatest country on the planet. 
How so, you ask? 

Well, if we would all just take a moment to slow down and “chill”, we would remember and realize that we are all playing for the Lakers.  We are all part of the Dream Team, the greatest organization / team / country ever created.  Sure, there are bad seasons and occasional bad players, but when all is said and done, the greatness of our team always shines through.  How so, you stubbornly ask again?

America is great because our founding fathers (and mothers) knew that nothing is ever perfect 100% of the time.  They realized that people were basically dumb and would always make mistakes.  And so they created a country that had a way of always renewing itself, where nothing was ever permanent and where you had to work to remain relevant and successful.  As a result, the best and the most competitive will always fight to rise to the top, and – despite occasional lackluster seasons – the team will always find a way to bounce back into the winning column.  If that’s not a formula for greatness, I don’t know what is!