Persons who develop disabilities, vision loss, or blindness deal with adjusting to this new self, as our view of ourselves changes and often the view of the world changes. The adjustment process is a cycle, and there are steps forward and steps back during the process. I speak to people around the United States about this process and taking control of it. You have to reach people where they are, and as a professional, I need to embrace this theory. Everyone deals with loss or adjustment differently, but many experience common aspects. The commonality is that we all have to take control as to succeed in life and the world.
Recently, my amazing and talented wife, Jennifer Strechay, pointed out a song to me, as I am interested in music, television, films, and popular culture that could possibly apply to my work. She hit the nail on the head with this one. The song is Fight Song written by Dave Bassett and Rachel Platten with the performance by Rachel Platten. Jennifer knows I am passionate about the adjustment to vision loss process, and most people have heard me discuss this. As this truly hits home for me, as I dealt with losing my vision. I think back to my adjustment process and fighting back from my own egocentric view of life and the world. I had to fight back, which meant having to get services specific to blindness skills, counseling for my adjustment, and pushing myself to be a part of the world.
The line, “And all of those things I didn’t say”reminds me of how people will compress their feelings, and often not share their fears and feelings about their loss of vision. This all becomes like “wrecking balls in our brain.” Bottling up our feelings can cause bigger issues, as we are not dealing with our problems.
The song also says, “This is my fight song, my take back my life song, my prove I’m alright song,” which is a powerful statement to me, as we all need to take control of our life. I am a big believer in an internal locus of control. This means we control our destiny, and we can make things happen. I wouldn’t have succeeded in life without this belief. So, take back your life, take control, and make things happen. It is time to fight and this seems like a great theme song for persons dealing with vision loss.
I want to commend Mr. Bassett and Ms. Platten for bringing “Fight Song” to us. Take the time to read all of the lyrics and check out the song today. It is time to take back your life! Check out some other inspirational songs to push you forward as well!
The American Foundation for the Blind wants to help you fight back and get access to the services you need. AFBâs VisionAware offers you the VisionConnect app, and that provides you access to AFBâs Directory of Services, resources to assist after diagnosis and depending on your stage in life, and most importantly connection to content to inspire âYour take back your lifeâ step toward success. VisionAware also offers you Peer Perspective blog posts about situations around vison loss and resources. So, donât let the âwrecking balls in your brainâ destroy your life, fight back.