Limited vision is nothing to laugh about. In a family in which macular degener-ation is common, and with early signs showing themselves in my own eyes, I find it frightening to think about living without being able to read or watch the Red Sox. I know that there are aural options, but it wouldn't be the same. Thankfully, my ophthalmologist says the signs are early and minimal. Maybe I'll escape it.
Myopia is not limited to ocular vision. It also describes the mind set, a condition which may be more of a disaster than loss of ocular vision. To be myopic can mean to see things in a limited way with your mind, not your eyes. It is an attitudinal condition which doesn't take into account a wider vision of circumstances. To paraphrase an old saying, it's like not being able to see the forest for the trees.
Seeing the larger picture means being able to deal with the singular issues that arise, but not dwelling on them as if they are the end result. To recognize that singular issues or singular events are, perhaps the beginning of a process which has larger results is like walking through the forest without turning back because you trip over a downed limb.
As an example, I was struck by the news reports last night in which the President's trip to Asia was being analyzed. Some saw it as a failure because no major announcements were forthcoming about a dramatic change in foreign policy. Others, however, were complimenting the President for having opened dialogue with leaders of countries who were not friendly to the United States in recent years. The results of these meetings, from the perspective of the latter group, will be revealed in events and issues to emerge later.
To mix metaphors, I suppose it is the difference between seeing the glass half empty or the glass half full. It matters. How we, as a nation, proceed with international issues depends to a huge degree upon the rapport we have with leaders of other nations. I thought the photos showing the President in dialogue with Chinese college students were, perhaps, more telling than those of him seated in traditionally uncomfortable chairs with a table and flowers between him and the leader of China. Go back and look at the faces of the students. They tell a lot that words don't convey. The President garnered respect and admiration from those members of the Young Communist Party. That will pay off down the road
To be myopic is to be discouraged and critical of the results of those moments, or to dismiss them entirely as having been a waste of time (as one TV commentator was heard to say.) That certainly is one way to see things, but I prefer to see the larger picture and to have hope that acorns have been planted which will grow into oak trees of collaboration and mutual respect.
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