TAKEN FOR GRANTED
Sometimes I am guilty of not recognizing the amazing gifts that my body provides until the gift is threatened. At the top of the list as I write this narrative is balance and hearing – to be more specific – my impaired hearing. The hearing loss was so subtle and slow that I didn’t recognize it was happening.
About a year ago, an inquiry of my primary care doctor prompted a visit to an audiologist. This visit led to a diagnosis of moderate hearing loss and the subsequent purchase of hearing aids. For once, vanity did not rear its ugly head and I have embraced the additional ear accessory, wearing them most days all day. Adjustment to wearing them and them being adjusted to meet my specific needs has been a journey but the destination is within sight.
Did you know that one hears anywhere from 20 to 100 times faster than they see? It would benefit a lot of people if they would get their hearing tested.
I have always taken my ability to hear for granted and I would wager that you have too. Amazingly one hears even when asleep and the message is communicated to the brain while you sleep, which is why an alarm awaken you almost instantly.
As I write, it is a warm, humid, and very rainy August morning. I am not wearing hearing aids, but I can hear the sound that the tires of an unseen vehicle are making on the wet street. I hear the voice of a mechanic as he speaks with my neighbor about a malfunctioning car. The sound of the raindrops cascading off the rooftop into the gutters are rhythmic. It is a beautiful sound, and I am ever so grateful for the gift of hearing, impaired or not. Perhaps because of the impairment, I am more focused on the sounds that my hearing brings to me.
Hearing loss has taught me a thing or two about compassion for others – especially those with invisible physical limitations. If I am not wearing the hearing aids, there is little evidence of my impairment. If I am wearing them and you aren’t very observant, you will not see them. But my listening skills have been sharpened. I listen more intensely to what is being said by the person or thing that I am listening to. Tuning out the noises that impede my hearing what needs to be heard increases my ability to hear with or without the hearing aids.
For several years, I endeavored to be a better listener. I never imagined that a loss of hearing would be one of the tools to accomplish that goal. I am more aware than ever that listening is a matter of the heart and desire, and hearing is a matter of the auditory system. Both are gifts.
I will try never again to take the gift of hearing for granted. The same is true of taste, sight, smell, and touch.
PONDER THIS THOUGHT---Word of caution, don’t confuse hearing with listening.
We learn so much from loss if we are willing to learn from loss and not resist its lessons.