Let your voice be heard

So one thing for sure this past week was that even though I wanted to give a supportive ‘shout’ in honour of the sisters and brothers of the Spiritual ‘Shouter’ Baptist faith, on their national holiday on Wednesday, I couldn’t. Why?  I hear you asking? Because, as we say in TnT, I was ‘hoarse’, being interpreted, I had the worst case of laryngitis I have ever experienced. My throat hurt, a post nasal drip and acute rhinitis I had been taking medication for (and was nicely under control), flared up again. I was miserable. My latest adventurers have taken me to a situation where I am in cold storage every night, and that was the culprit that triggered my laryngitis. People, do not underestimate the power of the voice! No amount of excessive hand signaling (no matter how vigorous) or miming can compensate for it. First, I used only hand signals to communicate because to even try to whisper was painful. Then came the raspy whispering stage where I had to swallow hard before I mouthed words that sounded like a failed attempt at whistling. Then came the ‘breaking point’ where I was becoming somewhat audible again, so I was half whispering, half getting words out that sounded like I a one-woman choir – I would be getting words out in a somewhat tenor-sounding tone, only to have the next few words go all bass on me. LOL.

So, what did I learn from this laryngitis episode? Well, a lot of things (including that one should be smart enough to remember to wrap her throat in a scarf if she needs to be poking her head in fridges every night, BEFORE she starts to feel her throat itch). But most importantly, I learnt that we should appreciate our voices and use them only to communicate positive messages. When my throat hurt I had to choose when to speak, what was important to say, what could remain unsaid. It made me think before I spoke and to use my words judiciously. It got me to thinking that we should always think before we speak. Choose what we say carefully. Use the best words we can to communicate positive and empowering things. And of course, I also learnt that we should never neglect the care of our bodies, even the parts we cannot touch or see, like our voices, minds, and spirit.

Have a great week everyone. Let your voice be heard as a positive force this week.

Charms.