“Do you ever feel invisible because of your blindness?”

That was the question Doug asked me. I laughed and said, “It’s funny. I am the one who can’t see, but, often, it seems the other way around.”

I went on to explain what I meant…

Often when I’m out with Phil — you know, like at a party or having coffee — someone will ask Phil, what do you want to drink? Phil answers. Then, they will ask Phil, what does she want to drink? It’s like they’re the one who can’t see that I’m right there perfectly capable of answering that question!”

Doug sighed. “How do you feel when that happens?”

I told him how much it used to bother me. It made me feel insignificant and lesser.

I fight that with blindness anyway. Sometimes, people think that because I can’t see, I can’t think! But, actually, I have realized that it’s really less about that and more about the fact that they feel awkward and don’t quite know how to get my attention or relate to me.

But, still, I admit, it is humiliating no matter what their motive. Any time you are ignored, you will feel invisible.

“Well, you seem like you’ve tackled it. You seem so confident. How have you reconciled it — you obviously can’t change it — how have you overcome those feelings of invisibility?”

I paused and thought about Doug’s question.

Have I overcome it?

My answer surprised me.

“I haven’t overcome it,” I told him, “I overwrite it.” I am not even sure if it was a word — overwrote — but it said what I meant!

Sometimes, I think we put a ton of pressure on ourselves to get over feelings of insecurity or insignificance. We strive, believe truth, and then –wham! — we make a mistake, embarrass ourselves, or have a humiliating moment when someone treats us like we are invisible.

When that stuff happens, our insecurity button can get pushed and the feelings of insecurity or insignificance can spring up. We may think, “I thought I had overcome that.” Then, we get down on ourselves, feeling like a big spiritual failure and, again, we have a new feeling we need to overcome… guilt!

So, I don’t dog myself for still feeling invisible or insecure every now and then. I don’t get discouraged just because I haven’t totally overcome those things. Instead, I overwrite them.

I overwrite them with truth.

My statement of truth is: how I feel is not who I am.

Just because I feel invisible doesn’t mean I am! God sees me. I can’t find my significance in how someone else sees me (or doesn’t see me), I find my sense of self in how God sees me.

Oh girl, if you can’t overcome it, overwrite it!

It may still lurk underneath for a while, but, eventually, you will have so many layers of truth overwriting that feeling that it won’t even be able to break through!

We all have times we feel invisible, but when you do, spend less time trying to overcome it and more time overwriting it with the truth that you are not how you feel!

Question: When was a time that you felt invisible? What truth would you use to overwrite the lie of invisibility?