Would You Rather #33: Lose your Vision or Hearing?

First of all, I pray never to lose either in my lifetime. To be born whole and live out your days without having any body part impaired is a blessing; one that can’t be underestimated. And for those who have lost one or both and still find the inner courage to take life on, I really admire your tenacity. I can’t imagine how hard your hustle is; those of us having all parts intact are not even finding it any easier. I pray God blesses your efforts and uses the impairments as advantages in your favor.

I must confess, this is one of the toughest questions on the list; one that I have tried to avoid but the number of unanswered questions are growing lean and I can’t put it off any longer. So here we go.

Why are our eyes positioned where they are and why do we need them? To see where we are headed and move in that direction. Vision gives clarity and clarity makes the pursuit of a course more achievable. If you can see where you are going, that’s your focus and you’d do whatever it takes to get there. But you can’t see where you’re headed, it means you have no idea what to expect when you get there and you’re most likely to miss it.

What about our ears? They are positioned on the sides so we can hear what is going on around us. What we hear influences our decisions both positively and negatively. The words we hear can either build us up or break us down. It is up to us to filter what we hear and use what we find beneficial and discard what is detrimental. But are we always able to make the distinctions rightly?

(c) Google Images.

One may have his eyes working but it doesn’t necessarily guarantee perfect vision. It could be blurred or distorted and I wonder which is more dangerous: a distorted vision or no vision at all? (Not talking literally here).

You decide to see what you want when you’re looking at someone or something. It doesn’t matter how others interpret it but you know what you see and you stick to it. But when you keep on hearing that what you see isn’t exactly what it is, your perception begins to change to fit what you’ve heard. Sometimes, it’s great; other times, very unfortunate. One’s outlook on his life could be gloomy but words of encouragement could help him reshape his vision and ultimately, things could improve. On the other hand, one could see an opportunity in a crisis and would want to pursue it but voices would keep telling him it’s a wasteful venture and to ignore it. When such a person chooses to heed to what his ears are hearing and ignore what his eyes are telling him, he tends to lose in the end.

To lose my vision is to lose the ability to decide for myself if where I am headed is right or not. I would have to depend on my ears-trust the voice talking into it. To lose my hearing is to lose the other viewpoints there are to what I think I see. With the former, I lose my independence to decipher what is good or bad for me. With the latter, I lose my dependence on what others have to say. But at least, as long as I can see, I can read their suggestions and still make informed decisions.

This is hard. The eyes light up the mind and body but sometimes when you close your eyes, you see better. The ears serve as the body’s stereo. I don’t think I ever want to live without my eyes.

I know this is a tough question but I’d love to read your thoughts on this. Though they are both essential, which one would you sacrifice for the other and why?

© Josephine Amoako 2016