Everyone has diverse interests and hobbies which they become interested in over the years. Sometimes these may be things which we find out about from adults we respect whilst we are young. Others we are told about by friends. Some we find ourselves after hearing about them or viewing them on television and others may stem from jobs we have had in the past. There are a number that we will stop enjoying as we grow older and others that we can only start participating in as adults.
I have an acquaintance who has always enjoyed sewing, and she has put together some incredible clothing until recently. But she is now having problems with her vision, and until the seriousness of her complaint is professionally diagnosed, she cannot find out if help is available to correct her sight. But if there is no treatment available, she will have to cease doing the thing which gives her the most pleasure.
This started me thinking about some of the things that interest me and how some of the things that I love doing would probably no longer appeal to me if my eyesight deteriorated or I started to lose my hearing. Since my very favourite obsession is music – listening to it, going to experience my favourite musicians live, going to music festivals and collecting music related bits and pieces, I can’t even begin to imagine how I would react if I could never play my favourite songs by my favourite musicians ever again.
But on the other hand, many of my other leisure pursuits depend very much on being able to see. I read a lot and always have a large mountain of books which I like the look of and am trying to make the time to sit and read them. I enjoy taking photos, so not being able to see clearly enough to get a good shot would be incredibly annoying in the first place, but then not even managing to see well enough to enhance the photos using the computer would make it worse.
I love watching many different sports, and though I assume that if I was watching a match on television, the commentator’s words would explain what I couldn’t see for myself, I’m not really certain that I would get as much out of going to a football match if I was unable to watch properly what was happening on the pitch. One other thing I enjoy doing is going to historical buildings, museums and art galleries, and I’m sure it must be truly awful to not be able to look at stunning pieces of art or amazing pieces of architecture.
But that’s just a selection of my pastimes! There are an unlimited number of different things that people enjoy doing in their own time, and the prospect of participating in a lot of them would be severely affected if the eyes cannot see properly. Much like the individual I referred to at the beginning of this article, any arts and crafts related leisure pursuits would become hard to do as well as things including woodwork and DIY. Those who take part in some sports or other outdoor hobbies, including rock climbing or bird watching, would find it much more difficult to carry on with poor sight.
Naturally, not all sight or hearing problems are untreatable or permanent, so a lot of people can generally get back to what they love doing once they’ve undergone diagnosis and treatment. On occasions that treatment can be as easy as taking medicine if the problem is the result of some kind of infection. In other situations, external aid can resolve things – a hearing aid, reading glasses, contact lenses or similar, but with some pastimes these are not practical. For an individual who enjoys water sports and cannot use glasses or lenses due to the water splashing, Laser eye treatment is a option to help with further participation, and as far as surgical procedures are concerned, Laser eye surgery is one of the less costly operations to have done.
Other more severe complaints may take longer to diagnose and then demand more complicated treatment, but, for the eyes, Laser eye surgery is a fairly quick and easy solution for a number of complaints. Also, for some kinds of hearing problems, surgery is a option too.
I have some minor eye problems which are resolved by glasses (regrettably Laser eye not usually available for my complaint), and I find it a pain constantly having to have my glasses with me, but just considering what people have to give up if they are not able to hear or see properly makes me grateful that I can still see sufficiently well to do the things I enjoy, and fortunately my hearing is just perfect, despite decades of loud music!
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