Probably the most common handicap that people have is the need for eyeglasses so as to correct our vision so that our vision is clear. It is estimated by the Vision Council of America, that approximately 75% of Americans need some sort of vision correction. As you might well imagine, for those over 50 years old, that percentage increases appreciably, to somewhere around 90%. While there are many theories put forth as to why so many of us need glasses, such as the vision stress of modern day technology, in which so often our eyes are glued to computer screens, or smart phones; as well as the nature of our work, which instead of being of the 'hunter-gatherer" type, we are alas too often stuck with jobs performed under artificial lights, and thereby the necessitating of the constant focus on objects that are near to us, as opposed to taking in the panorama of the outdoors world. For whatever it is, the amount of people necessitating vision correction is staggering, and it is a blessing that we have so many options to help correct, maintain, or to improve our vision available to us.
While it is said that exercise is good for the physical body, we probably need to more carefully look into the proper care and maintenance of our eyes. For instance, some optometrists recommend a simple routine of for every twenty minutes of up-close focus that you perform, that you should then take a twenty second break and focus on some distant object, so as to keep your eyes more limber in their focusing ability. Additionally, it is important to practice consistent blinking so as to not dry out unnecessarily the moisture for your eyes and unduly strain them.
It is amazing, how much that we take our eyesight for granted, when if you think about it, the productivity and lifestyle of so many individuals would be damaged significantly without the aid and usage of corrective lenses. The invention of aids to improve one's vision has apparently been around since at least the 13th century probably because those that suffered from poor vision recognized that they had a need to improve that vision in order to successfully function within society, and subsequently were able to discover that convex-shaped glass was able to improve one's eyesight.
In today's modern world, the lack of corrective lenses to improve your vision is extremely debilitating as so much of what is required from us on a given day, necessitates the ability to focus on objects close to us so as to manipulate them or to properly utilize them. It is extremely fortunate that corrective lenses are available to us at such a low cost for what they provide to us in return, because an inability to focus and to see the world as it is, negates our powers of observation, and truly handicaps us.
As the truism goes, you truly don't appreciate something until you lose it, and those that use corrective lenses to correct their vision, certainly appreciate that aid, perhaps spending little time though, truly appreciating just how absolutely vital that it really is.