“The happiest moment of my life was when I realized that I was here with a purpose. Being blind is kind of hard. You can tell I’m blind, right? Being blind makes you think, “What are you here for? What can you do for anybody else in the world?”. When I figured out that I had a purpose in life, that was the happiest moment of my life. 

There was definitely a struggle in finding my purpose. There’s a purpose for being blind. I got surgery that was supposed to make my eyes see better but it didn’t work out like that and it made it worse. I’ve been blind for about twenty years but being blind, I’ve learned alot about life, in general. Being blind doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t see. It just means that you see things differently.

Most people see things right in front of their eyes. I see things differently. Instead of seeing with my eyes, I see with sound. I make a picture of what’s going on in my mind versus what’s outside of my mind. You get a picture of what you see and I get a picture of what I hear. I make it up in my mind based on what I hear. It can be good or bad at times but if all the lights went out in the whole world, I’d still be able to see what’s going on.

Being blind is like you’re in the darkness and when you’re in the darkness with nobody else, it’s kind of hard for you. The hardest thing for me was being alone in the darkness. People are not meant to be alone but with other people. I realize that just because I’m by myself, it doesn’t mean I’m by myself. There are people fighting the same battle and the progress they make benefits me, so I’m not by myself. Not only that, I got God and that’s an invisible part of reality that nobody’s really seeing. It’s easier for a blind person to see God.

I almost had no choice but to be spiritual because I am blind. Part of faith is depending on things that you can’t see but knowing that there’s some type of result, even though you can’t see it - that’s what it is. Being spiritual is everyday life. It’s not abnormal for me but everyday life. 

Don’t let what people judge you by be the result of your whole life. There’s only one person that can stop you from being successful and that’s your own self. So if you really want to see the truth in what you want to be in life, look inside yourself. Take some time to get to know yourself. That’s the best advice I can give anybody in the world.” - Matthew, Shawnee