A Blind Person’s Recovery

Merriam-Webster defines “Recovery” as the act of regaining or returning toward a normal or healthy state. What, though, is a normal and/or healthy state, and what does “being in recovery” mean to you?

For many, “recovery” can be thought of in a financial sense. Bankruptcy protection or reorganization is inevitably followed by a recovery of one’s finances. For others, hospitals have a recovery unit and send patients to physical therapy so they can recover any faculties they may have lost as the result of a medical event. The opioid crises in America has helped to familiarize the term as describing the men and women who have achieved sustained sobriety, allowing them to live in a constant state of recovery.

Recovery also applies to these strange COVID times, in which societal recovery will take the form of what has been popularized as “the new normal.”

Regardless of the background in which you were born, the level of your finances or education, the social network around you, or the current stage of your life, you are likely either already living in some stage of recovery or need to accept finding an appropriate recovery level is necessary in the very near future.

For a blind person, recovery is what life is all about.

I lost my eyesight when I was 14. Doctors could not diagnose the issue, but agreed it was a genetic condition that was responsible for my vision loss. Today’s medical community deems that condition to be a derivative of retinitis pigmentosa.

Regardless of the reason, life at 14 years old was to be changed forever. I went from driving combines on the family farm and racing Motocross to learning Braille and how to use a white cane.

For more than a decade, I refused to accept my circumstance and enter a state of perpetual recovery. I was angry, self-loathing, rebellious, ungrateful, and self-destructive. I separated himself from family and friends, often forcing myself into isolation, while attempting to live my old life amidst new circumstances.

Eventually, I was persuaded to embrace the change, accept what was to become my new normal, and live in a state of perpetual recovery.

Reviewing Webster’s definition of recovery, returning to a normal state is not the same as returning to a prior state. Normal means only a status we believe to be correct. Normal is not what has happened in the past, it is what we expect to happen in the future.

In commenting on excellence, Aristotle is often cited as saying, “We are what we repeatedly do.” Whether that is wearing a mask while in public, adopting a vegan diet, or traveling the world without the use of sight, our expectation of how we will live becomes the circumstances in which we find comfort and deem to be normal.

For an executive who is blind, living in recovery in large part is understanding it is normal to navigate through a world that cannot be seen, which will inevitably causes occasion to course correct. When you cannot see, it is very easy to miss what is coming.

The argument can quite easily be made that people who can see often miss even more of what is coming at them than does a person who is blind, but that is a different conversation for a different day.

Maintaining orientation is essential for a blind person. Starting off pointed in the correct direction, maintaining an accurate heading while traveling the community, and understanding how to identify keys that indicate a successful arrival are essential to blind travel.

Inevitability, though, orientation will be lost, regardless of how strong a blind person’s orientation skills may be. It happens to sighted people as well, but the seriousness of being in an unknown position for a blind person can be quite exaggerated.

Living in a state of recovery, where the normal course of events is defined by predetermined expectations, includes understanding getting lost happens and that a course correction will need to be made.

When lost, blind travelers have many options, some of which are productive, others are not, and some are neutral. Standing in position, waiting for someone to provide assistance, then deciding whether to trust the potentially Good Samaritan, is an option.

Taking a directional guess, starting to walk, and looking for orientation clues is also an alternative, albeit a risky one.

Using the tools available, such as GPS technology or relying on a guide dog to drive towards recognizable targets, is frequently the best option and a statistically sound way to regain orientation.

None of that can happen if panic or resistance ensues when orientation is lost. For a blind person, “normal” includes expecting to occasionally get lost. Normal means a perpetual willingness to course correct. Course correction, in turn, is an essential element of recovery, and leads to reclaiming a healthy state of mind.

COVID-19 created a life-altering circumstance on many, maybe even all, people throughout the United States and the rest of the world. In many ways, it is similar to the impact a genetic condition had on the life of a 14-year-old boy who lost his eyesight.

For a decade, he refused to recover and fought a new normal. He dreamed of a return to prior circumstances and ignored opportunities to elevate his current situation to a level far beyond where he formally lived.

One day, I finally stopped being that boy and became who I am today.

There has always been and will always be a need to recover from the perils of life. Regaining the healthy state of living starts first with choosing to recover, then determining how best to navigate the recovery as we attain our new normal.

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Managing diversity is one of the biggest challenges emerging and established leaders can face. We learned, almost by accident, one of the most effective ways of teaching how to manage a diverse workforce is by showing how a blind executive works with his guide dog.

There is no fee for your team’s first live webinar and there is no better, practical or more fun leadership diversity, equity, and inclusion training than “Find the Door,” which is delivered by an executive who is blind and his guide dog.  Ask any question, learn how a blind person’s travel skills can help accelerate your career, and find out how you too can “Find the Door” to a corporate culture where DEI is fun, profitable, and embraced by all.

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