Working with lots of people recently who have acquired sight loss got me thinking back to the time when my central vision began to disappear.

These days I increasingly look forward rather than back. I tend to focus on the future, but looking back can be a useful exercise. If we don’t occasionally look back we may miss opportunities to recollect great times and the lessons we learn along the way.

I took a leaf out of my own book and cast my mind back. It was actually good to remember some important occasions and it highlighted some of the difficult times and how far I have come.

It seems like a lifetime ago now, but less than ten years ago I had little central vision in one eye and was waiting for the central vision in my other eye to deteriorate. It was a funny old time as I did not quite know what to do with myself and did not know what it would be like when my overall central vision was affected.

Time passed and my good eye remain good and so my overall sight was unaffected. Not knowing quite what to do or how long to wait I decided to apply for work. At the time I was a fashion designer so I worked hard on a new portfolio and secured a job with a well known high street retailer.

It was a great next step for me. The position gave me more opportunities to travel, more money and more responsibility and I relocated back to London with enthusiasm.

I started on the Monday and it was evident by Wednesday that my sight loss had begun. Looking back I suspect it already had started to deteriorate and I was denying it to myself. I wasn’t doing this consciously but I think I was concentrating on what I could see rather than what I couldn’t.

Maybe my sight got worse quickly or maybe it was being in a work situation that made it evident. For example, I was given a tiny laptop to work on and I could not see the screen or the keyboard and it wasn’t until I was asked to colour match that I realised I couldn’t identify colour well. Either way, I did not make it to the end of my first week and reluctantly I went into work knowing I would have to tell my manager that it would be my last day. I don’t actually remember the conversation but I left before lunch.

I can’t remember exactly how I felt when I left the building. I seem to remember feeling a bit lost and so I called a good friend. I told her my sight loss was happening and I had left my new, exciting job. She took the afternoon off with immediate effect (what I mean by this is – she told her boss she’d see him in the morning)! I met my friend and she told me she was taking me on the London Eye. Bit random, but in hindsight it was a good suggestion.

I had never been on the London Eye before so it was a brilliant opportunity to see the city I love. The timing couldn’t have been better as I didn’t know how much sight I would be left with.

As we crossed the bridge over the river Thames we walked past a man on bended knee proposing to his delighted girlfriend. I distinctly remember thinking to myself while I am having a bad day which I will never forget, this couple are having a fantastic day which they will always remember.

I looked at them and thought, today is a memorable day for both of us but for totally different reasons. Today is their amazing day and my amazing day will come. Since then I have never thought, ‘there’s always someone worse off than me’ to make myself feel better. I know people say this to themselves to motivate themselves but I don’t really understand this. Why take solace from knowing others are worse off than you? From then on I think, while I may be having a bad day someone else will be having an amazing day and my amazing day will come. This motivates me and feels like a better way to look at things.

As we got to the London Eye my friend produced a mini bottle of champagne. Looking back, it is questionable what we were celebrating but it seemed a nice gesture! I don’t think I wanted tea and sympathy, perhaps she knew a bit of bubbly was the way to go!

We smuggled our bottle past security and onto the capsule and drank it out of paper cups we had scrounged from the café stand. We drank and gossiped the whole way round the circuit.

When we got off I laughed to myself  because I hadn’t looked out at the view once! There I was with possibly my last chance to fully experience the London Eye and take in the famous sights of London and I had not done so.

I realised there and then that friendship was far more important than sight. A view is a view but if you have no one to share it with (or in my case ignore it with!) then what good is full sight and beautiful views?

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I recently met Warwick Jarvis and when he told me his story I felt he was perfect to be an Inspirational Lemonade Maker. Warwick was forced to leave his promising sporting career behind when he was at the wrong end of a tackle intended to cause injury. The injury he sustained led him to be in a coma that doctors thought he would not come out from.

In true ‘making lemonade’ style Warwick not only came out of the coma but turned his life around and achieved success with his legal costs drafting company.

Here is Warwick’s responses to my first five questions:

Five Questions For Fun

Is there anything you would like to develop or try for the first time this year? In terms of personal development I hope to work on my fitness. In terms of work life I am aiming to expand the number of staff and clients in order to hit the turnover target I have set myself.

What advice would you give yourself if you were just starting out? That is a tough one, probably that nothing good in life comes without hard work (or maybe also to listen more)

Who is your hero? John McEnroe would be my sporting hero. In terms of professional hero I would say Lord Sugar or Duncan Bannatyne (obvious maybe but still valid answers)

What would you wish someone would invent? Another hard question; any missing gadget I may desire will certainly be invented soon enough. I don’t hanker after anything specific on this one. I have most of what I need and if I don’t yet have it, I can manage without it!

What is the last thing you think before your head hits the pillow? My plans for the next day; work schedule and tasks, marketing emails to send, what sort of exercise session I want to do and what I want to play with my kids. As you can imagine, the old grey matter is still functioning even at that late stage in the day.

Read all about Warwick’s incredible story here

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Guest Blogger: Jane Hatton

In her second blog for Making Lemonade Jane shares her top seven places to find a job. Jane founded and runs Evenbreak, which is a specialist job board for disabled job seekers. Check it out at www.evenbreak.co.uk.

Sometimes we get in the habit of looking for work in the same places all the time and in doing so we might be missing an opportunity elsewhere. Here Jane reminds us of some of the various ways to pursue employment opportunities.  Read the rest of this entry »

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Guest Blogger: Helen Markey

The thought of seeking new employment is daunting enough for anyone. There may be a number of reasons that may spark a job search; you may be unhappy in your current role, it could be down to relocation, a change in career path or even a desire to take on a new challenge. No matter what the reason for the search, we can all agree that Read the rest of this entry »

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Guest Blogger: Girl With The Cane

I stumbled across Sarah (AKA Girl with the Cane) when I found myself reading her blog last year. I am clearly not the only one who finds her musings on living with a disability and her articles interesting as she has recently been nominated for three Canadian Weblog Awards.   

I instantly loved her strap line, Read the rest of this entry »

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Successfully cycling

I received a great call from my five year old niece recently which really struck me and made me think about what it takes Read the rest of this entry »

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I realised the other day that I have been my own boss for eight years. This got me thinking about Read the rest of this entry »

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As we are looking at ‘making it happen’ this month I thought I’d share something I’ve started that fits nicely in with this theme. Read the rest of this entry »

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It is usual at this time of year to look back over the year just gone and forward to the one ahead. It is also usual for coaches to seize the moment to talk about new year resolutions and to bring the conversation round to how they can help! Read the rest of this entry »

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Last week I delivered a workshop on influencing as part of RADAR’s Leadership and Empowerment programme. I chose to deliver it on influencing as I think now more than ever the ability Read the rest of this entry »

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