Life has its annoyances and irritations. I am allergic to dust. It shows up mostly in my eyes and, yes, I do my fair share of sneezing too, but it is really my eyes that suffer the wrath. The fact that I have chronic dry eye doesn’t help either. I have prescription eye drops for the allergy and the dry eye to help with the irritation and I also have some special prescription glasses to help keep out dust and air debris. They do a pretty good job but my eyes still do get irritated. I suppose if I lived in a sterile bubble I would not have to use those eye drops or the glasses, but what fun would that be?

I have a life to live, places I want to go, things I want to do, stories I want to share, puppets I want to build, clothing I want to sew, people I want to visit. I can’t let this allergy or the dry eye stop me, I just use the drops and wear the glasses and keep on going. 

I’ve been clearing out my house, purging and organizing. That really stirs up the dust! My eyes have certainly been suffering. I use artificial tears several times a day to wash out the dust and help to calm my eyes as I spend time in closets and clean under dressers. The progress I have been making in clearing out the old stuff to make room for what I really want is amazing…however, it comes with a cost to me, my eyes are going to get irritated.

Everybody has something that is irritating and annoying. Perhaps that annoyance can be avoided at times but then there are times we all must face that challenge to move forward. I cannot ever completely avoid dust but I can do things to manage its effect on my eyes. It is worth the time, effort, and money it takes to put those drops in my eyes and purchase special glasses so I can explore the world and go forward. There is so much I want to see!!

By the way, just in case you needed someone to tell you this, you’re worth it too!