To this day, I can't decide if inheriting Dad's excellent peripheral vision is a blessing or a curse.
It's not unusual for me to spot things out of the corner of my eye that passengers miss even as we drive right past them. It has served me well in slowing down for deer that are coming toward the road, spotting them long before they register with others in the car.
It helped me spot the heron yesterday in enough time for John to turn & admire it as we drove past.
But - because it is second nature to me - it also means I never know what others are missing. What's obvious to me can be totally out of their line of sight. This isn't a problem when I'm the driver, but it can mean I don't give a needed warning when I'm in the passenger's seat - I can see it, so my assumption is so can they. Not necessarily so.
As challenging as this can be to me driving, it's way more difficult when it comes to what I & others see internally. Again from my father, I have an inner awareness of more than what falls within standard sight lines. I can see problems coming up that others miss. And I have never understood why others can't take a 360 degree view of a given situation & come up with good options for addressing any problems. It's beyond me how how others - especially family - can't step back from a chronically messed-up situation, see the triggers & take steps to go in different directions the next time they come up. I can't understand how others can't get into their own thinking & pick it apart. It seems so easy & natural to me. How many times I've learned the hard way that it is NOT for most others.
Which puts me in a situation that irks the daylights out of me. I can step back & analyze my actions, then make changes (as best I can) to at least improve things. Even in my greatest failing - housework - the sink IS now clean & shiny 24/7/365 & that wasn't true a year ago! But most others either find that quality personally daunting or flat-out aggravating. To me, it's just second nature.
Dad's peripheral vision - blessing or curse?
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