Beauty Buzz/Blog Biz
Sweet April showers do spring May flowers.
~Thomas Tusser
The saying “April showers bring May flowers” has been around for hundreds of years, and it is one I grew up hearing. Of course, many of us associate it with the concept that adversity yields good things for us. We all walk through rainy seasons of life, and if we are lucky at the end of these we find that we have learned and grown and we see the beauty of the experience.
I love a good rainy day. I really love it when I do not have to go out and can just enjoy listening to it from the comfort of my home. Sometimes I even enjoy stepping out to feel the raindrops on my face, but of course not to get soaked.
If only we could determine how we are exposed to the challenging times of life. If we could always experience them wrapped in the comfort of home and those who love us. Yet, sometimes we face the difficulties of life alone. If only we could choose how much they invade and impact or soak into our lives. Often we cannot control things that happen to us. However, we can certainly control how we respond. We can determine if we learn from and grow from the experiences in life. We can begin to see how the rain or storms in life can make everything more beautiful.
Beauty Wrought Through Suffering
Vision loss is a challenge for anyone who has journeyed through it. The losses can feel immense. The difficulties of everyday life without good vision often require tremendous energy, problem-solving, and boldness. Admittedly, there are rainy days, stormy days, but it has been my experience that there comes a time when we realize that the experience of living with a visual impairment has brought some wonderful beauty to our lives.
“If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.”
~Buddha
Although blindness in no way defines who I am, it certainly has contributed to who I have become. It has impacted my career choices, as I have had an amazing career making a positive impact in the lives of thousands of people with visual impairments. It has contributed to my personal life, in that I have met and been friends with so many wonderful friends… who happen to also be visually impaired. And, it has given me the opportunity to challenge myself and find my individual boldness and beauty as I live and thrive with blindness.
We can allow ourselves to flourish and blossom from the adversities we experience. This is not easy to do, but it is life-altering for us and those around us if we can allow the showers of life to turn into something that brings beauty.
Connecting With Sylvia On Social Media:
- Facebook: @Sylvia Stinson-Perez
- Twitter: @SylviaSPerez101
- National Research and Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision at Mississippi State University (NRTC): www.blind.msstate.edu/about
Author Bio:
Sylvia Stinson-Perez is a leader in the blindness field helping individuals and organizations succeed through innovative strategic planning and implementation. She has Master’s degrees in Social Work, Visual Disabilities Rehabilitation, and Business Administration. Sylvia is blind as a result of Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), however, she believes that everyone should have the opportunity to achieve their potential, a conviction she promotes through:
- her position at the National Research and Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision
- projects she leads such as Speak With Confidence public speaking training, and mentoring
- service on advisory committees and boards of directors.
Image Descriptions:
- The header is a multi-colored umbrella with rain showers upon it
- Young blind woman using a smartphone with voice accessibility
- Blind woman walking on the sidewalk in the city