Although I live in one of the quietest parts of the planet, I have resigned myself to the fact I will probably never know silence again. Not truly. My 35 years in the music business has left me with tinnitus and as worsening as it’s becoming, I realise I have two choices: to be overwhelmed by it, or accept my fate and learn how to live with it.
As we age, very few of us will avoid some sort of pain, discomfort, or ailment that will mar our latter years. The folly of youth will catch up with us and it’s only then that we decide if we are to own it, or become a victim of it.
I say ‘own’ as it is my strong belief that no matter what we ‘suffer’ under in life, the most important thing is to accept responsibility for our circumstances. We cannot change the things we don’t own, so if we hand blame for anything into another’s hands, we also give them solely the power to change it.
By owning the situations we find ourselves in, we hold the power to change if not the situation, then our attitude towards it.
Mine is a life of high pitches, which, with the right training, can become a beautiful melody, the sound of the ocean, or a violin reaching the summit of orchestral peak. Quite simply, I need to make friends with it. It is for me to decide how this ailment manifests itself for the rest of my three score years and ten. That, for me, is the power of ownership.