I’m making some New Year’s hearing resolutions.
They aren’t radically different from my vows of previous years, some of which I’ve kept. Some of them. For a while. But even though my resolutions might be repetitive, the great thing about New Year’s is that it is a NEW YEAR.
“Hope springs eternal” wrote the poet Alexander Pope. Let’s be optimistic that our communication can and will be better this year, while realizing that the secret sauce is the effort we put into it. It’s our hearing loss and we must manage it.
Whether profound or mild, hearing loss coughs up challenges every single day of our lives, and how we navigate them is the key to our communication and peace of mind. We can RAGE and GRIEVE and SUFFER and COMPLAIN and BLAME when conversations go off the rails and people don’t seem willing to help us.
But, we can meet them where they are! We can infuse poor listening environments with more light and less noise. We can pump up visual cues and above all, we can frame our needs in a gentle demand for compliance that creates win-win, good communication or everybody.
The skill to do this is learnable and it starts with knowing what works. Which brings me to my 2026 New Year’s Hearing Resolutions.
- I will bluff less. I won’t pretend to understand even though the conversation has got away from me. Bluffing may help me get through this painful conversation faster, but it doesn’t create anything but confusion and it’s certainly not polite to the people I’m speaking with. I have become far more present in conversations by speaking up for my needs, but still…you know? Sometimes it’s just too easy to slip into full-on bluffing mode, nodding as if I’m getting it, when I’m not. I’d love to say I’ll stop bluffing completely, but that would be an untruth and impossible to achieve.
- I will be consistent with daily self-care practices that reduce my (somatosensory) tinnitus. Adequate hydration, cardio exercise and meditation/deep breathing. This stuff helps me…so why don’t I do it every day? This year I will do better.
- I will be more understanding when other people forget my needs. In the flow of normal conversation, it’s easy to forget the rules of face me, slow down, etc. I need to perfect the art of patient remind-fulness.
- I will find new ways to share the message that the hearing loss journey can be easier. This means I will get back to work on the Next Big Writing Project.
- I will accept that 4 New Year’s Hearing Resolutions are enough to handle for 2026.
So, here we go.
I wish you a happy new year, packed with rich and satisfying communication. We are going to enjoy this year – hearing loss be damned!
