If Time Was Tangible

If Time Was Tangible

By Drew Bankston

If time were tangible, what would you do with it? Would you portion it out into small chunks and put them in the freezer to save for later? Would you file the used portions away and take them out when you wanted to relive certain moments of your life? Would you destroy certain parcels so that neither you, nor anyone else would ever think about them again?

Time is the one thing in life that we all wish we could control. Some days we don’t have enough of it. Other days it’s with us in abundance. We wish that we could go back and change it, relive it, see parts of it that were there when we weren’t. We crave to see what the future time has in store for us, for our children and for our descendants. Time is an amazing thing.

We take segments of time and store them in our memories, preserving them like a well kept scrapbook. But our memories can change, and just as the pages of a scrapbook can yellow with time, our memories can change with time as well. Time is like a river of water that wears away at the rocks, and cliffs of our memories, and shapes them into what we wish to remember and sometimes, what we wish that others would remember as well. We look at ourselves as smarter, stronger, more resilient and in some cases, better looking. Time can turn our past into the fantasy life that we only wished we had. It can make our memories happy and sad. It can create solace and forgiveness.  It can enhance bitterness and regret.

But we can control time to some extent, and the effects that it has on us. Exercise, proper eating, sleep habits, partying habits and so on can control the physical effects to some extent. They can be enhanced with cosmetics, surgery and other interventions that we’ve created to make ourselves look and feel better. But, no matter what we do, it marches on. Each second ticks by no matter how hard with wish of will it not to.

Time is an incredible thing. It does so much to us. In the end we cherish and value it. We want more of it. Each second becomes precious and we want each one back. It goes faster as we desire more and slips away before we know it.

Use some of your time to love, and laugh and enjoy life to the fullest. Time can be wasted on those things that don’t bring us happiness. Don’t waste your time, because any wasted is gone forever. Live every second. Smile whenever you can. Leave this world a better place and forever change it for the best!

Drew

Persistence

Persistence

By Drew Bankston

This week will be three weeks with double vision. I’m finding that my eyes are getting very tired throughout the day as they attempt to coordinate with each other, but are unsuccessful in the efforts. I’ve just finished a round of heavy antibiotics and steroids but haven’t seen any improvements, so I’ll be contacting the doctor again to see what the next plan of action will be. In the meantime, I’m learning what I can and cannot do.

It’s a struggle doing many day-to-day things and finding my way through the multiple images that I see without running into the phantom images that encroach on my vision. Each morning, I wake up hoping that my vision has healed, and each morning I’m disappointed.  I’m eager to have my vision go back to the way it was.

There is a possibility that my vision will never correct, and that I’ll be this way the rest of my life. In that event, I’m doing what I can to incorporate this into my life. I’ve started riding my scooter again, cautiously, and I’m getting used to where road elements are in comparison to where I am. I’m trying to work with what I have and make life easier.

The toughest thing for me right now is trying to write. Obviously, I’m able to do that. It’s my passion. It’s the one thing that I never want to lose in my life. Writing is everything to me, so I’m working hardest to be able to write efficiently and without many mistakes, and although my eyes tire easily now, I feel that it’s helping me to organize my thoughts better so that when I do sit down to write, I’m not having to spend as much time thinking about what needs to be said.

I’m trying hard to be persistent in my happiness and in focusing on the things that I can do to make life a happy place. I want to spread that happiness to all of you in my writing and in my stories that I share with you. As such, I’m completely redoing one of my series and re-launching each book over the next year with a completely new look and a few new additions to the story-lines. Keep watching for these changes. I know that you’re going to love them. In the meantime, I’m the double vision author, wishing each of you a great week and the strength to be persistent in reaching every dream and accomplishing every goal!

The Eyes Are the Windows to…?

The Eyes Are the Windows to…?

Drew Bankston

Last week I woke up to find that I had double vision. I went to the eye doctor just to be told that my right eye would not look to the right. According to the doctor, this meant that my sixth cranial nerve was not working correctly. More than that, it concerned her deeply. She asked if my family had a history of stroke. She was concerned about the nerve being compressed and what was causing it.

She determined that I needed a CT scan. The hospital determined that I should have an MRI. The insurance company decided that they should see the doctor’s notes before they decided anything. Me? My body was telling me that there was nothing really bad going on. It just was.

I’ve always been big on being in tune with my body. I listen to it and do the things that it tells me to do. So, it came as little surprise to me when, after the doctors, hospital and insurance company came to an agreement, and the MRI was evaluated, that the word was, “it was clean” and that nothing was found.

Next, I went to my family doctor. We decided that because I’ve had a sinus infection for a few weeks that this could be the cause of the 6^th nerve palsy. Today I’m a few days into antibiotics, steroids and decongestants. Is it working? It’s probably clearing up my sinuses, but so far no improvement with the eyes.

I fully expect that things will clear up eventually. I’m not certain when it will be, but in the meantime I’m just doing what I can to live with what I see. It’s the way my life has always been. Things happen and I just know that they will get better.

I’ve always felt that this is the way life is. Ups and downs like a roller coaster. Sometimes the ups are incredible and sometimes the downs seem devastating. The important thing to remember, to always remember, is that it evens out and our lives average a pretty smooth road.

I see double. I can’t drive while it’s doing this. I struggle with writing. It’s difficult to go to work and do my job. But I attempt to find ways to adjust, to live, to progress and to thrive. You can do it too. Focus on the positive. Many times things are so bad that you can’t figure out what could possibly be positive. Dig deep. Find the positive and shout it out loud. Share it with the people you meet. Make the positive firmly implanted in your mind. Keep it with you always. Your life will improve by leaps and bounds and you’ll not only find yourself getting through the low in your life, but you’ll reach a higher high on the next upswing!

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