Most of us have heard this advice: Listen more, talk less.
It goes along with the idea that we have two ears and one mouth,
so we should listen twice as much as we talk.
Yesterday I couldn't talk at all.
It started on Wednesday when I felt a cold coming on.
On Friday night, we were driving home from a family gathering.
It all went downhill on that ride home.
The next day, the only way I could talk to my Dad on the phone was to have hubby put it on speaker mode, and I pantomimed or whispered information to relay to him.
I always think it's rather ironic when the speech-language pathologist can't talk.
We went to a fundraiser on Saturday afternoon. I toted along a pad of paper and the above cover page. This only worked so well. Communication isn't a one-way street.
My voice improved slightly in the afternoon. That was nice, but I felt a little guilty about going against the standard advice for "vocal rest."
On the way home, we stopped for dinner. My voice was declining again.
Restaurants tend to be notoriously loud, so talking to hubby, who was seated right next to me, was impossible. All my comments had to be made by writing.
It made me very grateful for reading and writing skills.
Today I am better, kind of croaking like a frog. Hopefully I will be able to go to work tomorrow and lead my charges in their speech and language sessions.
So what did I learn from this?
- Sometimes it's good to not talk, as in leaving a dumb remark alone.
- We really do need to talk, and communication impairments are somewhat isolating, even if the rest of your body is functioning okay.
- It's a lot more fun to sing along in church than to stay quiet because you're croaking.
- Be thankful for your voice!
