Alex Elman runs a big business — something hard to imagine after she lost her sight in her twenties. But Elman says that losing her sight helped her focus on finding success.

Elman's father planted a hillside vineyard in western Massachusetts in 1981. It's where Elman fled during the darkest period of her life. When she was 27 years old, she went blind due to complications from Juvenile diabetes (青少年糖尿病)17 years ago. She recalled, "I hid in my home. I hid in the place, to me, that was the safest place in the world."

Elman is now the founder of Alex Elman Wines, a growing collection of organic wines from all around the world: Chianti from Italy, Torrontes from Argentina. Elman doesn't work alone. Her assistant, a guide dog named Hanley, is something of a wine taster, and quite a beggar. Hanley travels to all of the wineries that Elman does, from South America to Europe.

At first, Elman resisted the idea of a seeing-eye dog. Now it's hard to imagine her life, or her business, without him. She said, "When someone tells me something is organic and I don't really believe it because I taste something funny on it, I'll put it in front of his face and if he likes the wine, he'll actually go in and sniff it. If it's not right, he'll turn his head away ... He gets in the dirt with me. He scratches around. He makes sure that we see earthworms and butterflies. That's how we know that the soil is actually organic, that there are no chemicals."

Elman told CBS News she believes the loss of her vision was a gift. She said, "It allowed me to pay attention to what I thought was important and also to be able to teach people that the broken hang nail is not a big deal, you know what I mean? Don't sweat the small stuff. Don't sweat the big stuff either."

The Benefits of Keeping a Journal

If you want to grow, one important thing you should do is keeping a journal. It may seem simple, but it can make a big difference in your life. 【小题1】 And to be honest, I can’t imagine what my life would be like without it. Here are some benefits you will get by keeping a journal.

It prevents you from losing an idea. Have you ever gotten an idea only to lose it later because you didn’t write it down? 【小题2】 But then I developed the habit of writing down every idea that came into my mind as soon as possible.

【小题3】 By reviewing your journal, you can quickly see the lessons you’ve learned and the ideas you’ve gotten. Then you can do whatever necessary to avoid repeating the same mistakes. You can use the ideas to push yourself forward.

It allows you to see the progress over time. After keeping a journal for years, you can look back at it and see how far you’ve gone. Things that were big problems in the past might seem small today. 【小题4】

It helps you expand your ideas. When you try to come up with a sentence to express an idea, you are thinking actively about it. 【小题5】 In the end, you expand your ideas.