When I can’t read or see something clearly, I squint to make it clear. It feels as if I’m using my eyes to grab the image. This normally sharpens the image for a second and then it becomes blurry again. Then, I quint harder to keep it clear. This cycle makes my head feels as if screws are being tightened on my temples and the back of my head. This is definitely not the right way to see something clearly. So, why did I do it every time I want to see something clearly?

Don’t Try

It’s difficult to change because I didn’t know any better. When something is difficult to do, I naturally try harder. But, our eyes doesn’t seem to work on this principle. We can’t flex the eye muscles to see better, and the harder we try the more problem it causes. If we close our eyes, take several deep breaths and relax, when we open them, the image generally looks clearer. It’s easier to see clearly with relaxed eyes than stained eyes. If trying harder doesn’t work, it makes sense not to strain and let the eyes sharpen the image by itself. This goes against my natural instincts to try harder, so I have to constantly remind myself to relax my eyes.

Letting the eyes sharpen an image by itself is easier said than done. Straining to see clearly is a habit, and it’s not easy to untrained. How does it feel not to strain or let the eyes focus naturally? I know how it feels to squint and strain to see clearly. I try many eye exercises and eye massages, but I still strain to see clearly.

Relaxed Eyes

It occurred to me one day, as I was getting ready for bed, that my eyes are most relaxed when I’m asleep. I lay down and sense how the eyes feel when I’m about to sleep. I feel the soothing warm eyelids closing, the calmness of the dark, the tensed eye muscles melting into relaxation and the relaxed eyes sinking slightly inward. I try to remember this relaxed feeling. I want to use this feeling to relax my eyes when I notice that I’m straining them.

Persistence

The challenge is to replace the squinting and straining with this relaxed-eye feeling. I constantly remind myself, “don’t force your eyes to see clearly. It’s OK that it’s blurry; let it sharpen naturally.”

This is the battle I will continue to fight until I’m free of my glasses.