Last night I sat in bed with my back against the bed-head, watching television after a long, fruitful day. I was at the Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston, Jamaica. In the morning, I had delivered a keynote speech for the annual conference of the Urban Development Corporation. In the afternoon, I did an extensive interview with Ian Boyne for Profile, a very popular television show, to launch my new book, Persuasion Power. That night, I was guest speaker at a Herbalife banquet, honoring successful new representatives. Enough for one day; I deserved a little mindless entertainment. Suddenly, I was struck by an amazing awareness.

I was sitting up in bed, watching a television set, ten feet away, against the opposite wall in the room. I could see the facial expressions and read the writing on the screen--without squinting--AND, I was not wearing my glasses. The first time in several years...at least, the first time I noticed this.

Please understand. Having to wear glasses has been a frustration for me. I seek to deny my physical vulnerabilities and have done so rather successfully for over forty years. But I once had a doctor who instructed me that my body is supposed to wear out like a car does, and therefore, needs periodic tune-ups and repairs. On the one hand, I tend to agree. On the other hand, I seriously disagree. Yes, your body suffers wear and tear. Yes, it needs tune-up and repair. But unlike a car, your body has remarkable, inexplicable self-repair mechanisms that are constantly in motion. If you treat it well, the body can heal itself! For most of my everyday maladies, that realization renders doctors irrelevant.

Now, I know that many of my studied friends will disagree with my position here. Doctors are needed on an exceptional basis...for traumatic situations; to help fix things that are broken; but the health of your body is more so your responsibility than that of any health care professional. If you treat your body well, and I’m not suggesting that I always do a great job with mine, it will show you remarkable powers of self-regeneration and healing that defy some people’s perception of what is possible.

Okay, so what happened with my glasses? Six months ago, I heard this story from Sidney, a friend of the family. When he was studying to be a pilot, he got sick and tired of his glasses. While flying, he’d put them on to see out in the distance, then take them off to look down at the instrument panel before him. On and off. Repeat. This quickly became frustrating.

A man of great personal power, Sidney decided to stop depending on his glasses. At first, he had to squint to see out in the distance. Day after day, week after week, he strained to see. Of course, for safety, he always had his glasses with him, and in certain high-risk situations, he definitely used them. Then, after a few months, the strain began to diminish. Today, Sidney no longer needs his glasses! He tells me that he sometimes carries them with him for a sort of psychological crutch. His mind knows that if he ever needed them, they’d be right there.

This made sense to me and it offered great hope for resolving my own aggravation. I faced the same situation when I drove; for example, glasses on - for seeing in the distance and off - for seeing the dashboard. Well, for the past several months, I’ve lived in denial. I’ve stood, presenting to an audience, and squinted to see the back rows; I’ve strained my eyes to read signs in the distance; I often roll my eyes and do exercises that put great pressure on my eyeballs. I’m no medical doctor, but there’s something I understand about the human body. When you put your muscles under pressure, in a measured way, their response is to adapt and grow the capabilities to handle the force. In so doing, they can become stronger.

On the other hand, when you pamper yourself continually, live a life of ease without physical pressure, and use substitute devices to do what your muscles should be doing, these muscles atrophy…they begin to shrink and die from disuse. For example, without physical exercise, your muscles become soft and weak. Allow that for long enough and the whole structure dies.

I know that my eyes adapt, adjust and flex, based on the work of my ocular and retinal muscles. I’ve always suspected that dependency on glasses would cause my eyes to get weaker and weaker, needing stronger and stronger prescriptions over time, but I didn’t get the energy to do the abnormal, until Sidney proved it. The normal thing is to accept the assumption that as you age, you need glasses…stronger and stronger ones. Well I can’t accept that.

And excuse me doctor—please show me a car that gets stronger, faster or better, the more miles and pressure it faces. Show me a car with a dying battery which gets better the more you use it. It may have a part called generator, but it doesn’t have one called re-generator. My body does. It can fix itself.

Now, let me make some important acknowledgment here. First, it is illegal to drive without your glasses if you have a prescription that says you need them to drive, or if, in order to pass your driving exam, you had to wear glasses. It is dangerous to toss your glasses and drive on faith; God may not be operating on your timing. Second, there are chronic, pathological conditions that require medical intervention. Disciplined straining and squinting will not make a cataract or damaged retina heal itself. Such are conditions in which something is “broken” and needs to be fixed with the help of qualified health care professionals.

Third, getting older DOES lead to natural weakening of certain faculties. That’s a fact. However…and please follow me here…I plan never to accept or capitulate to that “fact” as long as I’m alive. When I ultimately die, my eyes will stop working; so will my legs, brain and heart. Until then, I strive to regenerate, rebound, renew, revive and restore! Never surrender until the game is over. Arrogant? No. Hungry for fullness; passionate for life.

Your body and mind work together in a curious, remarkable way. If your mind accepts the bombardment of media messages from the big pharmaceutical companies, then you need a prescription filled whenever something feels unusual in your body. If you believe your body is the most awesome, abundant, self-restoring organism ever created, and you treat it right, with nutrition, exercise and positive thought patterns (don’t miss that one), then you can live full and free…free from side effects and being destroyed by the same things that were supposed to help you.

Are my eyes completely back to normal? Not yet. But that significant milestone of being able to see in a way I could not see before, gives me enough fuel to continue the improvement. And if you see me squinting, don’t tell me I need glasses. I’m straining my muscles to adapt and regenerate.

This story is not really about eyes, you see…it is about anything desirable in your life that you’ve been told you cannot attain or do. You need others to help you physically, emotionally, financially; or, something is wrong with you and you need to be fixed by some outside agent. Baloney. With exceptions noted above, such as a broken leg, you have the power to grow, rejuvenate, improve, and reach heights some think impossible. Often you must endure pain, push yourself and strain yourself, but when you do so in a measured way, remarkable breakthroughs can result.

Improvement, advance and growth are sometimes more of a mental thing than a physical. Trust me, this attitude will give you altitude.

Alvin

In Kingston, presenting at Knutsford Court Hotel, on behalf of PALS, Wed Sep. 27 and Thurs Sep. 28, 9-11:30 a.m.--($6,000 entry, including free copy of Persuasion Power)See you there?