This happened in early December, just as the Sunday School class I attend was ready to begin. As usual, I pulled my phone from my purse to adjust the sound level on the hearing aid app. Then I lifted my hands to my ears to make sure my hearing aids were firmly in place.
That’s when my heart stopped.
The left hearing aid was gone. How could this have happened? How could it have fallen out of my ear without my noticing? And how would I ever find it?
Trying not to panic, I checked my coat pocket. Not there. I asked everyone in the class to look for it, on chairs, on tables, on the floor. No luck. Then I retraced my steps from the classroom to my car. Down the hall. Down the steps. Out the door, down the sidewalk and across Spring Street, all the way to the Highland Hardware parking lot. No hearing aid. It wasn’t under my car or in my car. It was gone, and the only thing I could think about was how much time and money it would cost to replace it.
I beat myself up all the way through Sunday School and worship service. Filled with dismay, I arrived home and dropped my keys into the catch-all tray on the kitchen counter. There, nestled safely in its charger, was the missing hearing aid.
All of which leads, in a very meandering way, to the theme of today’s column: my “word” for 2025.
Many people pick one special word to focus on at the beginning of each new year. It makes for an easy and simplified resolutions list. The word can be a verb. FOCUS, for instance. Or SIMPLIFY. REST. LAUGH. READ. STRETCH. ENJOY. LEARN. SHARE. EXPLORE. LISTEN. DREAM. UNPLUG. Thousands of others.
Or it can be a noun. I know folks who choose one of the nine “fruits of the spirit” from the Bible (Galatians 5:22-23) to focus on, which is a great way to get started. Those fruits are JOY, PEACE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS, SELF-CONTROL and LOVE, which is—of course—also a verb.
There are no rules to picking a word except the rules you make for yourself.
As I mulled over what my 2025 word should be, I couldn’t help but think about my lost hearing aid. As I’d prepared to walk out the door that Sunday morning, I had too many things on my mind and was trying to do too many things at once. I’m not unique in this. We all do it. My multitasking habit started in earnest decades ago, when I had three children under the age of five and a nearly-blind and very demanding father-in-law to take care of. Multitasking was the only way to get through the day.
Though that’s not the case anymore, old habits are hard to break. It’s especially easy these days for anyone with a smart phone to do lots of things at one time. Listen to music. Listen to podcasts. Check the weather. Check email. Check social media. Take pictures. All while performing some or many other tasks.
Assuming, of course, that you know where the cell phone is. Which I often don’t. Hunting for it is one of the most frustrating things I do. The lesson there, which could also be a resolution? DON’T PUT SOMETHING BIG ON TOP OF SOMETHING SMALL, especially if it’s my cell phone. Or my eyeglasses, which correct for near-sightedness but which I have to take off when I read or write. Meaning I can’t watch TV or drive until I find them.
All of which leads me to my top-of-the-list, more-than-one-word resolution for the coming year. It’s age-old Zen advice, aimed at anyone tempted to multitask : When walking, walk. When eating, eat. And speaking of Zen, next week I’ll write about a couple of time-management books that have helped me look at things in a whole new light.
Stay tuned.
(January 4, 2025)