Feb 20, 2018
Michelle Alexander
Waking up deaf

Michele Alexander knows what it’s like to go through a good dose of hell. She woke up one day and her hearing started failing. Then. It was gone. How would you feel if that happened to you?

The only option was a cochlea implant. If I woke up and found myself without hearing, I could probably kiss DJing and Beatboxing goodbye. But then again, people like Michele are proof that you can do more than manage a new way of life, you can excel. Michele overcame that most dreadful of challenges to which we are all susceptible. I’m not talking about losing your hearing, but something harder to come to grips with. The accepting of yourself the way you are.

Michele tells a story of being ashamed of her cochlea implant. She didn’t want anyone to know. On top of that, she got her fair share of cancer, had chemo and lost her hair. This resulted in having to wear a wig because she was still so afraid of people seeing the cochlea implant.

Things changed in a single moment when she met Nick Vujicic. A super human without arms and legs. Michele went to give Nick a hug at one of his gigs and this is where she had a healing transformation. She told Nick, “before I give you a hug, I have to do something.” She removed her wig in front of all those people. Exposing her cochlea implant of course, but more importantly, accepting who she really was.

Many of us go through life hiding something from others, when really it’s not the worst thing when they find out. In fact, most people do not react the way we think they would have. It’s our own acceptance of who we are. Yet, I believe there is something even greater at play here. A further fear and Ordeal to pass through. It is quite simply, facing our light, seeing that we are capable of amazing things even in the face of weakness.

Michele is a business coach and the past-President of Belmont Rotary Club.