In early 2012 I recognized that I was having some problems with my eyes and I was ending most days with a  bad head. I have to be honest that I did ignore this issue for some time, even though I knew that I should have been looking for an eye doctor near me to help to remedy the issue. I think part of it was denial and the other part of me just didn’t want to be told that a part of my body was failing. One day I was standing on the outside of the eye center when a member of the team who worked there asked if I was alright, I told them yes and moved on.

Two weeks later however, on my third time of standing outside, a gentleman came out and asked me to come in, telling me that he had seen me time and time again, and invited me to have an eye test.

Great Customer Service

I have to be honest, all of those times that I was standing outside the window I genuinely did want to go in, and I certainly wasn’t waiting to be invited in. Regardless however I have to say what great customer service that was on the part of the doctor, who recognized that I was loitering and wanted to try and help. This of course was the push that I needed.

Not so Bad

One of the most surprising aspects of all of this was that after the eye test the doctor made some recommendations for me to get some glasses, yet the damage was in fact far, far less than I had thought. The moral of the story here is that you shouldn’t panic because of something slight which has changed, but rather to go and get the issue looked at as soon as you realize you have a problem. As it happened, I had worked myself into something of a frenzy based on very little evidence indeed.

Worsening The Problem

One of the biggest reasons as to why I am so grateful that the doctor came out that day and checked to see if I was alright, is because of what he told me after my eye exam. Something which I hadn’t realized at the time was that the more you ignore an issue with your vision, the worse that the problem will get. Just imagine if the doctor hadn’t come out that day and that I had put off the appointment for another 6 months, I may very well have made my vision so much worse than it actually was.

If any of you out there are struggling with your vision then don’t count on a great eye doctor coming to ask if you are ok, learn from my mistakes and make sure that you get yourself tested when you feel that there is something awry. Even if you do need glasses, they really aren’t that bad.

Gareth Willmot

Gareth Willmot is a serial weird festival collector, coffee snob and a neurotic last-minute traveller who is passionate about marketing, ultramarathons and yoga.