Hearing Deficiency
Being able to hear out of only one ear is a singular experience. (ha HA! I just caught that totally unintentional pun!) I've done it before for maybe a day during an illness, but this is the first time in my life I can remember days upon days of feeling like I'm underwater.
My biggest challenge is in places with a great deal of background noise, such as being outside with the cicadas chirping to beat the band, or in a grocery store. I never realized before how much background noise there is in this world! Why do I notice this now? Because being able to hear out of only one ear, all I can hear is the background noise, where before I would just tune it out. I am now incapable of tuning it out. It's so weird.
Example: I went to the grocery store this morning where, usually unbeknownst to me because I tune it out, they had music playing over the intercom. Also, I could hear some sort of fan/refrigeration/air conditioning hum. Could I hear what the cashier was saying? Nope. Had to read her lips.
All I can figure is that ears must work similarly to eyes. Did you know you need both eyes functioning to have depth perception? I think with ears, you must need both functioning to be able to tune out unnecessary noise, and to be able to decipher what is peripheral noise and what is "important" noise. If I'm standing at the sink with the water running even a little bit, I might as well be deaf to what someone is saying 3 feet away; all I hear is the sink.
I'm pretty sure I will be this way, kind of "half-deaf", for a few weeks. I can say that this has made me appreciate so much more being able to hear well most of the time.
I take so much for granted in life....
Thank you, Lord, for ears that can hear!
My biggest challenge is in places with a great deal of background noise, such as being outside with the cicadas chirping to beat the band, or in a grocery store. I never realized before how much background noise there is in this world! Why do I notice this now? Because being able to hear out of only one ear, all I can hear is the background noise, where before I would just tune it out. I am now incapable of tuning it out. It's so weird.
Example: I went to the grocery store this morning where, usually unbeknownst to me because I tune it out, they had music playing over the intercom. Also, I could hear some sort of fan/refrigeration/air conditioning hum. Could I hear what the cashier was saying? Nope. Had to read her lips.
All I can figure is that ears must work similarly to eyes. Did you know you need both eyes functioning to have depth perception? I think with ears, you must need both functioning to be able to tune out unnecessary noise, and to be able to decipher what is peripheral noise and what is "important" noise. If I'm standing at the sink with the water running even a little bit, I might as well be deaf to what someone is saying 3 feet away; all I hear is the sink.
I'm pretty sure I will be this way, kind of "half-deaf", for a few weeks. I can say that this has made me appreciate so much more being able to hear well most of the time.
I take so much for granted in life....
Thank you, Lord, for ears that can hear!
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