Taking God's Blessings for Granted

I am sure everyone has heard the phrase, "Don't take things for granted because one day you may no longer have it." This is nothing but the truth. There are so many things in our daily lives that seem trivial to us, that we do indeed take for granted. Simple things such as waking up each day, the ability to walk or something that may seem even more trivial such as the ability to sing are overlooked and taken for granted on a daily basis. Don't forget to appreciate little things like this in your daily life.

I throughout my life have always been able to carry a tune and have been a better singer than some people. I obviously do not have the capabilities of a contestant on American Idol however I was pretty good. All throughout my high school career and even into college I was a soprano and proud of it. I was able to sing songs from "Phantom of the Opera" and could follow along with most songs on the radio. There is a catch though, I would never sing in public UNLESS I was in a group or in a play. I have always been afraid that people would judge my singing and point out errors such as when notes were flat or sharp. I did that myself so I thought that others would as well. Due to this silly thinking I never shared my voice with anyone but myself and occasionally family members but even then I got embarrassed.

Lets now fast-forward to the winter of 2012, at this point I had been coaching soccer to preschoolers for about 6 months and I was absolutely loving it. I was in the middle of a class and I was projecting my voice when all of a sudden I went to say something and nothing but a really bad sounding squeak came out of my mouth. I was shocked by this and I went to talk again and the same crazy squeak came out. I went on with the class as best as I could and went home for the day. The next morning I woke up and the squeaky voice was still present and I was really frustrated. My vocal range was completely absent and when I tried to talk a high pitched squeak came out. The squeak thinking back was kind of equivalent to a dog toy squeaker which is NOT an attractive noise as all. I pressed on with my classes and tried the best I could and eventually when my voice did not return went to the doctors office and was diagnosed with laryngitis. I was prescribed medicine to help my voice return and it did...very slowly.

Once my normal voice had returned I was thrilled after all the squeak was gone right? Well it was gone for the most part however when I overused my voice as I did much when I was coaching soccer I continuously heard the squeak. I learned to accept this and whenever someone said something about my voice, I just joked that I like a little boy going through puberty, in reality I did not think this was funny as all. Time went by and in May of this year I went to the doctor's office for a physical for nursing school and I asked him about the issue of my voice. He asked questions that would indicate that I had a loss of voice due to allergies and I had never noticed the symptoms he mentioned so I said no to all of his questions. Upon physical examination he found that I could have a loss of my voice triggered by allergies.

As a future nurse and self proclaimed geek I am going to get a little scientific here. The  doctor recommended a combination of Allegra and Flonase. The Allegra is an anti-histamine and works to  decrease the histamine response my body was producing to simple things such as pollen, animals dander and stuff of that nature. The Flonase helps with decreasing the amount of post-nasal drip that was also produced by these allergens. I was told to try this combination for about 15 days to see if it helped. I tried this combination and I thought a miracle had occurred. Each and everyday I heard my voice getting stronger and my co-workers, family, and even kids who I taught were noticing the improvement in my voice! The squeak was gone everywhere except my singing voice. Each and everyday my singing voice is improving however I have a feeling I will never be able to get up to the high notes I was once able to achieve.

I now consider myself a strong alto although I was a soprano my whole life. Looking back I kind of regret not sharing my higher voice with others. In this instance I took my voice that God provided to me for granted and through overuse, allergies or some other unknown reason lost it. Although I miss my high pitched singing voice ironically I can say I found my strong VOICE. All my life I have been shy and unsure when to speak up and when to keep things I was thinking to myself. Throughout the past couple years I have found my strength and who I truly am. Perhaps this is why I lost my voice as a lesson from God to let go of my weaknesses and embrace my strengths. Remember NEVER and I mean NEVER take anything you have in this life for granted. Although my voice may seem trivial it is really important to me and I honestly wish I could go back and share my God given blessing to anyone who would like to hear it. Always remember EVERYTHING in your life is a blessing.