Ever feel the grind of daily life wearing you down? Truth is, we all feel that from time to time. That’s how I’m feeling these days, between a hectic life at home getting ready for twins coming in December (new house needing lots of work, need bigger vehicle, etc) and challenging moments in the workplace. I could use a little more sunshine during these grey, chilly days of October here in northern Ontario.
Sure enough, God sends me some inspiration, this time through one of the blogs I read each morning. Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert shares with his readers the happiest day of his life, the day his voice came back after 18 months. He has a rare condition called Spasmodic Dysphonia, where the part of the brain that controls speech just shuts down. *No one has ever recovered from this*. Perhaps until now.
I admire Scott’s determination, and search for answers for a disease not well understood:
“Just because no one has ever gotten better from Spasmodic Dysphonia before doesn’t mean I can’t be the first. So every day for months and months I tried new tricks to regain my voice. I visualized speaking correctly and repeatedly told myself I could (affirmations). I used self hypnosis. I used voice therapy exercises. I spoke in higher pitches, or changing pitches. I observed when my voice worked best and when it was worst and looked for patterns. I tried speaking in foreign accents. I tried “singing” some words that were especially hard.”
He eventually found that missing link, in an unexpected place, something he hadn’t considered trying. While helping with a homework assignment, he discovered rhyming was easy for him to do:
“I repeated it dozens of times, partly because I could. It was effortless, even though it was similar to regular speech. I enjoyed repeating it, hearing the sound of my own voice working almost flawlessly. I longed for that sound, and the memory of normal speech. Perhaps the rhyme took me back to my own childhood too. Or maybe it’s just plain catchy. I enjoyed repeating it more than I should have. Then something happened.
My brain remapped.
My speech returned.”
I’m reminded that often our answers and direction come not so much from our own efforts and ingenuity, but from our willingness to be open, to listen to the Voice calling us in directions we wouldn’t choose to go ourselves.
What a happy day for Scott, and an extra dose of sun for me. Now back to the daily grind.
Technorati Tags: inspiration, Douglas Adams