Does the thought of getting naked send a shiver down your spine? Don’t worry. You can leave your clothes on for this one if you want. I’m talking about a different kind of naked – outlook naked. I’m inviting you to take off your eyeglasses and embrace your naked eye vision of the world.
Your naked eye view is the ability to see everything with fresh, non-judgmental eyes. When you see with your naked eye view, you see things for what they truly are instead of what you think they’re supposed to be. It allows you to see possibility instead of limitation. It allows you to see, accept and love yourself as you are – no judgment.
Back when I could see, my eyeglasses were a part of me. They were a part of who I was and I was comfortable wearing glasses. In fact, I was so comfortable wearing them that just over a year after I had lost any usable sight — I could see light, dark and shadows, I was still wearing my dark-brown tortoise-shell frames with half-inch thick, bifocal lenses. I’d wake up and put on my glasses every morning even though they didn’t do me a lick of good anymore. Sheer ridiculousness – I know that now.
It was pointed out to me abruptly and in the most unceremonious way. A girl that I had just met took one look at me with my white cane, pointed accusatorially at it and asked sharply and matter-of-factly, “Why do you have that stick?” Well, I don’t know if she actually pointed at it, but it sure felt like she did. My throat began to burn, I quavered and paused for a moment and said, “I’m blind. The girl responded as abruptly and matter-of-factly as before. “Why are you wearing glasses if you can’t see?”
I walked away wondering to myself — “Good question. Why am I wearing these glasses?” They really were useless to me. So, why on earth was I still wearing them? I told myself then that it was from habit. But as I look back on it now, I realize that continuing to wear my glasses was a manifestation of my outlook. I was unconsciously judging myself. My then outlook included the assumption that happiness and success were only possible if I achieved what I thought was the “ideal” or “perfect” 20/20 standard. I thought I could only find happiness and success if I looked like what I thought happiness and success looked like — and, what I thought happiness and success looked like was the opposite of everything I was.
Despite the fact that few if any of the people I knew met my 20/20 standard, I still managed to view everyone else as being better than I was, better than they actually were, or as being the unique individuals with their own gifts to share that they were. Yet I couldn’t see myself this way. With this warped outlook, clearly everyone but me must be happy. I thought the problem was me. But, the problem was the outlook I had chosen. By choosing to put on my glasses every day, I didn’t have to be blind. I didn’t have to consciously admit to myself that I couldn’t see. And, if I didn’t admit it, I didn’t have to accept my blindness. But I also couldn’t be, know, accept and love myself. And, deep down, I wanted to be loved.
Once I realized this, I decided to go out into the world with my bare-naked eyes wide open. No longer would I hide who or what I was. I was blind, and I wanted to figure out exactly what that meant for me. And, I never put those glasses back on again.
What’s your outlook? Do you find yourself judging yourself – saying I’m not thin enough, fit enough, beautiful enough, smart enough, balanced enough or whatever enough? Who’s 20/20 standard are you measuring yourself against? How might your 20/20 standard be limiting you and how true is this standard really? I’ll tell you, it’s probably not all that true. For me, I thought a blind woman couldn’t be happy and successful, but I am. Who ever thought that one of the most powerful and influential women in America would look like Oprah? Probably not many, if you’re looking through a 20/20 standard outlook. But when you use your naked eye, you see the possibility of what could be.
Putting away your glasses and going out into the world with naked eyes means that you go into the world with curiosity and explore what’s possible. Are you ready to “see” yourself– and life — as you really are? Are you ready to reveal a new outlook that enables you to feel the way you want to feel ? Start by identifying the thoughts and beliefs that make up your 20/20 standard. Bringing awareness to this allows you to question the standard and explore what it looks like to choose differently. And always remember, you’ve got the power to choose. So, if you’re ready to get naked, that in itself is a choice. Let the positive energy of that choice move you forward.