One of the limiting beliefs I like to challenge with clients is “This was a problem with all my family members, so of course I’ll have it too.” Maybe, and maybe not! Yes, you may have the same genetic material (unless you’re adopted), but what we also “inherit” are our parents’ habits and behaviors and ways of thinking. We soak these up before we have language, automatically, like breathing.
Now that you have the perspective of an adult, you have more choices than you did as a child. Just because one of your parents is overweight and has a tendency to use sweets as comfort, you don’t have to! Go for a walk outdoors and let Mother Nature comfort you. Similarly, if one or both of your parents had vision challenges, you can write a different seeing story for yourself.
Many studies have proven that myopia is not hereditary. Children of clear-sighted parents can develop myopia from poor vision habits. People of all ages are improving their vision, which shouldn’t be possible if eyesight is in the genes, and our genes are our destiny (which I don’t believe either but that’s a different article).
One of the early lessons from my energy medicine teacher Deborah King is to examine an unexpected symptom, say a feeling of anxiety “out of the blue”, or a sudden headache, and ask “Is this mine or someone else’s?”. If you’re close to someone, your energy fields overlap, and it’s easy to mix up who is who. This is especially true of mothers and children. If your mother is worried about something, can you remain calm, or do you take on her worry automatically?
A simple re-framing technique can distance you from the problem too. Doesn’t “this myopic pattern” sound less like a life sentence than “my myopia”? Patterns can be changed! Why claim it as yours if it’s not who you really want to be?
My own mother grew up in WWII in a large poor family. Her father was away in the service for long periods of time. I’m guessing she was in at least a low level state of fear, not feeling safe, for most of her life. She got eyeglasses as a teen, and I never remember seeing her face without them. She tended toward anxiety and worry — my father often pointed out that she saw everything as a crisis.
If my mother had been more relaxed, with more of a “go with the flow” attitude and less in Survival Mode, could she have improved her vision? I don’t know. Yes, I share her blood and genetics, but her anxious life view does not have to be mine. I don’t have to continue to share her tendency to feel fear so readily. As I keep working on relaxing my whole body (not just my visual system) with practices like meditation, my eyesight keeps getting better.
Are you seeing through someone else’s eyes, or your own? It’s your one precious life — own it fully and take the reins. The view ahead will keep opening up for you.
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I wore strong glasses, then contact lenses, from age 5 into my 40s. While making many mistakes, eventually l learned how to improve the way I use my eyes and to see in a more relaxed, healthy manner. It is my pleasure to coach others to do the same. Visit me at https://NancyLNeff.com.