Earlier this year I finally admitted I was having trouble hearing. The excuses of “you need to get my attention first” or “you need to speak up” or “there’s too much background noise” were wearing me and my family out. I expect they were wearing out my friends and business colleagues as well, they just didn’t voice their frustration. Thanks to those of you who gave me a free pass on what I’d guess were multiple occasions. So yes – I did the research online and purchased an excellent set of hearing aids. I’ve been wearing them for 6+ months for the record. There is still work to do on my listening skills but at least I can hear.

One of the excellent features of this Audien model is they are Bluetooth connected. I can listen to music, replay baseball highlights and no one knows! OK, they probably know, or at least suspect. Great features but with Bluetooth on I also get notifications when I receive a text message or the Ring cameras at front or back door at home are activated. Not really a big deal but I continue to notice the volume of the conversation I’m involved in is turned down (not off) when the notification happens. It brought home the fact that not only do I not listen well when distractions happen but  I can’t focus enough to even hear well. This doesn’t happen only with notifications but I effectively turn down someone else’s conversation when I have to check a baseball score and even see the pitch location that resulted in a home run on a 0 balls, 2 strikes count. Yep, checking the score and details is not going to change the outcome, but I sometimes can’t help myself. Please tell me I’m not alone in doing this!

One of my New Years resolutions for 2025 was to Listen. Just a reminder for me, and maybe you, that it’s impossible to practice good listening skills if you don’t put yourself in a good position to HEAR. 

At least my grandson Clive knew I was talking and turned around. Allison on the other hand?