You Are Behind Your Eyes
Dear Son,
I want to tell you something strange that happened to me—not once, but twice.
I was lying flat on my back in an operating room, wide awake, while a surgeon removed the cataracts from my eyes. If you’ve never had that done, let me tell you, it’s the oddest thing in the world to watch something happening to you, but feel completely separate from it.
There I was, conscious and still, while tools hovered just millimeters from my eyeball. I couldn’t feel pain, just this surreal awareness—like I was watching someone do maintenance on a car I happened to live inside.
It reminded me of something I read recently in a book:
“You have a body.
But you are not your body.
You have a mind.
But you are not your mind.
You have emotions.
But you are not your emotions.
You are the being behind it all.”
That hit me like a spiritual two-by-four.
We go through life thinking we are our thoughts, our feelings, our bodies. But the truth is—we’re the one who’s watching all that happen. We’re not the storm… we’re the sky it passes through.
And the moment you realize this, even a little, you start to understand something powerful:
You get to choose how you respond.
You can witness pain and not become it.
You can observe fear and not obey it.
You can notice your thoughts… and let them go.
That doesn’t mean it’s easy. Some days, it’s damn near impossible. But once you’ve seen that you’re not just the machine, you can't unsee it.
You’re behind your eyes. And that’s where your real power is.
If I had a son, I’d want him to hear this…
Don’t mistake the noise of your mind for the truth of who you are.
You’re not your fear, your anger, your sadness, or even your story.
You’re the awareness behind all of it. And you always have a choice.
Love,
Fred
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