Free at last, no parents there, the memorable moment offers perfect sunny summer weather, screaming amplifiers, music so loud we thought it was funny at the age of 15 not being able to hear each other talk after our very first concert. High-school kids yelling at each other in a local pizza shop trying to communicate and talk about the Jefferson Starship show we just absorbed in an open outdoor field nested in a reservation within the hills of South Orange, NJ. Anything we said literally fell on deaf ears as if one was shouting at a rock and expecting a reply.

Funny at first, three days later sound faintly came back at a pace of a turtle intertwined with the sounds of a high pitched ring. I will never forget standing against the stage under Paul Kantner’s amplifier. It was the first time I saw a rock-star live and he was 6 feet away from me.  

I did not even know who Paul Kantner was at the time. We went there to hear Grace Slick sing “White Rabbit.” My left ear picked up every note of Paul’s guitar as I stood at the stage trying to be cool in my bright white fully unbuttoned Navy Sea Cadet shirt. We thought we were so grown up failing to realize we were just kids.

For 34 years after this event, I could never hear well out of my left ear, or so I thought. My whole adult life I would tell the story of how I did permanent damage to my eardrum getting close up to Paul’s sound system. Recently, a friend that always sits to the left of me grew tired of repeating herself and encouraged me to get a hearing test. I did.

The results after sitting in a glass sound-proof booth as the audiologist delicately shifted keys with both hands on a manual soundboard were……an A+. He reports, my hearing is 100% normal. Shocked by the news, I could not believe it.

Yes, Paul Kantner died this week, and the point of this story is sometimes we are simply wrong despite what our senses pick up. We are what we listen to. The brain will believe what you tell it. You will listen to your thoughts and self-talk and act or react accordingly.  

Things are as we believe them to be. Our belief systems are so real, for two-thirds of my life I would lean in with my right ear when I needed to listen closely as I would say, “Please repeat that, I can’t hear so well in my left ear.” Sometimes I would jokingly say I lost my hearing as a teenager at a rock concert. 

My question to you is, “What are you telling yourself?” I hope it is something that betters you and you do not believe in some nonexistent flaw you perceive you may have because it can become part of your reality.

I responded to my lack of hearing for three days and believed my one ear had damage. Thank the good Lord, it is not true. I hear fine and Paul Kantner’s name is clear in my book, not that he was looking for vindication. I credit Paul for helping me learn and hear the facts.  
Use this knowledge to your advantage and believe and dwell on only good things. Have faith in God and believe in yourself. If you are stuck on a bad thought, test it, it may not be real. Rid your mind of anything negative.
Again, believe in yourself and program yourself for only good and wonderful things. Sometimes we need to hear it from someone else to believe it. If so, I will tell you now, you are powerful. Your brain is powerful, you are loved and you are awesome. Believe it, internalize it. You are created by the Master Himself.

 I learned from the audiologist what the truth is and I believe it. I can hear perfectly now. Be open minded, learn from others and keep your ears open.