Ive made no secret of the fact that I have lost my voice.  On Sunday it started to get bad and on Monday I woke up totally speechless.  This has really been tough for me because I looooove to communicate!  While I do use several different mediums for communication, good old fashion verbal communication is by far my favorite.

Here are the things I have noticed since loosing my voice:

1. I really enjoy conversations

2. I enjoy shaping conversations with different ideas and approaches.  Its like my own verbal artwork.

3. Words have a HUGE impact.  We all know this, but until you loose your words, you forget just how big your words can be.

4. I wonder how many people with valuable things to say are being “talked over” in life and what the rest of us “talkers” are missing because we talk so much and need to listen more.

5. Non-verbal communication TRULY is the majority of communication.  Ask my husband!

6. I am less stressed and less worked up after 4 days of not having a voice.  This is interesting to me.

I think the reason for this is that, since its such a struggle to get any words out at all, I am being very particular about when I actually exert the energy to try and talk. Basically, if I had a voice I would be commenting a lot more than I am right now.  This is causing me to think maybe I comment too much. Typically I inject my verbal opinions into areas I may not need to, welcome or unwelcome, I think when we engage in conversations that are not really a priority for us we take on more stress and mental/emotional baggage that we may have avoided if we had just kept quiet.

Also, I am realizing that the fact that my voice is “missing” from certain conversations and discussion isn’t having that large of an impact on the outcome.  Decisions are still made with or without my voice, and for the most part, I have been in agreement with whats happening around me.  Lack of voice has also caused me to “let it go” when I do disagree because its literally not worth wasting the energy to offer my humble rebuttal.

7. I am getting a ton of sympathy.  At the grocery store, the pharmacy, the starbucks, at work, not so much at home 😉 But in general when you start to speak and your face is animated and your body language is in full gear but nothing is coming out of your mouth people notice!

8.  I miss singing in the car.

I guess thats about it.  I am sure there are other reflections I have had but for the most part this is what I am thinking.  Esp. #6. However, if you consider my strengths finder, it seems God made me to communicate.  My strengths are Connectedness, Communications, Activator, Empathy and Input.  ALL of these require talking and are fueled by talking. What I still wonder about is if God is trying to tell me something/show me something from this experience.  There always seems to be a spiritual lesson to back up something happening in the physical world.  That part I am still wondering…

Have you ever lost your voice?  How did that make you feel? Did you learn anything in particular? Are you a talker by nature?  Do you think you are a good listener?  Ask someone who isn’t a talker if you’re a good listener, then you will know.