"It's humbling, but I'm willing to try."

Hadley

“It’s humbling, but I’m willing to try”

Nancy: These are streets that I've walked for over 30 years, and now I can't find my way around. And then I come home a little shaken, like, oh my goodness, my confidence is all down.

Marc: This is Hadley’s Insights and Sound Bites, where people facing vision loss share what has helped them cope and adjust.

Nancy: My name is Nancy Kranjac. I live in New Jersey and I'm currently 60 years old, but I was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa. It was hard news. It was hard news. I had lost a lot of vision already. There are so many challenges because I get lost sometimes and I get frustrated. And I said, wait a minute, how do I actually get out of this situation?

And it's humbling. These are streets that I've walked for over 30 years, and I walked them fairly, and now I can't find my way around or see where my driveway is, and I have to struggle to find my driveway or my doorstep. And then I come home a little shaken, like, oh my goodness, my confidence is all down.

And I came inside one day and my friend called me. She said, you know, you are so brave. You're so courageous. I said, really? Why? Why would you say that? She said, you are brave and courageous just to step foot outside and do this. I said, you know, you're right, I am brave, I am courageous, I should be out there proud of myself in the sense that I am willing to put myself out there and try something really hard, when it's so easy to just crumple up and not do anything about it.

So it changed my perspective in the sense that at first I was crumbling and I found the challenge to be overwhelming. And now I'm willing to try. And if I fail, I think about it and like, well, this is not for the light of heart.

It's really hard to do. If I can't do it first turn around, we'll figure it out. I'll figure it out. Somehow, I'll get home. And when I do, I feel brave, I feel courageous, and now it's just changing my perspective on how to attempt the same things. It's giving me motivation.

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