Nobody Else Can Make the Sound that You Make

What is it that you love to do but never feel that you get it quite right?  Perhaps you don’t even try anymore because you think that what you do is not good enough?

Discouragement seems to pursue us all a good part of the time, because whatever it is that we work so hard doing, it seems to us that there is always someone else who can do it much better.

I have always enjoyed music and it is interesting to me that every musician has a sound all their own.  My father played several instruments and when he played with others, it was not difficult to pick out his sound or style in a group.  Whether it was guitar or another instrument, he had his own special sound.   

Some people play with a jazzy sound or perhaps a soft flowing style that ripples up and down a keyboard.   Whatever the individual style, each makes a unique sound.

I once read of a music teacher who commented to a discouraged student: “Nobody else can make the sound that you make.” 

The sound that you make may not be the same as someone else’s sound but who is to say which is better.  It is said that, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”, perhaps it could be said that a delightful sound “is in the ear of the listener”

There are sounds that stay in the heart and are never forgotten, such as the sound of your mother’s voice singing a lullaby or even the sound of her voice as she reprimanded you by calling out your full name to get your attention.  Every person has a different tone of voice that belongs only to them, and we all know people with an unforgettable laugh or a way of speaking that is unique to them.  

Whether your special sound is the way you strum a guitar, your laugh, your sigh, or even a sneeze, remember that it is your own special way of strumming, laughing, sighing or sneezing.

It might not be the sound of your music or your voice at all.  It might be the way you whistle or the sound of your footsteps.

Each person makes an impact on the world in some way.  Sure, someone else can do what you do but they cannot do it exactly the same way that you do it.   

The next time you feel discouraged, remember…”Nobody else can make the sound that you make.”

By Pamela R. Blaine

© November 2002