A children’s book that I found in the UK before my children were born, was ‘The Boy with Two Eyes.’ It was part of a series of books from UNICEF on the rights of children, now out of print. It describes a planet far away where all the people had only one eye. With that one eye they could see in the dark, see far, far away, and see through walls. One day a strange child was born. He had two eyes. He lacked the eye skills that the one-eyed had, and his parents took him to many doctors, and he was given special help in school. Eventually he and his parents found that he had a special quality. He could see colors, while everyone else in the world saw only blacks, whites and greys.
The book was designed to illustrate the 5th right of children: “Handicapped children shall have special attention and care.” But beyond that, it highlights how those handicapped in one area, not quite fitting into our society, can often have qualities that others do not have. The limitations in one area can even enhance other capacities. When I criticize myself for things I lack maybe I can remember that I may have other qualities that shine, and even those areas of weakness can help me to fully inhabit who I am. I lack 3-D vision because my eyes don’t work together, but it gives me a different way of doing art that seems to be good. How about you? Or those around you? Are there things about you that seem like awful limitations that stretch you in other ways? We are not defined by our limitations. And some of them can actually be good.
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