Everyone once encountered a time when they were so sick where they lost their voices. For me, after being sick, I realized that it is something that I've taken advantage of, and that is my voice. Not being able to talk, despite the fact that it put me in pain, hurt me even more because I became frustrated when I wanted to express myself, but I couldn't find another way of doing so. It sucks that it takes you to lose something to realize the importance and worth of it.

I was able to observe and see the surroundings around me throughout this time of not speaking. I realized that we, as humans, are always speaking. We speak through our voices and our body, but being made up with the flaws that we have, we sometimes neglect this body language, and we only recognize the audible voices that we look for. It is this that reminds me that we take ourselves for granted. We all once tried to be someone that we are not; maybe you did it to have a voice that seemed to matter to other people because at the time yours didn't seem to matter. But remember, when you are true to yourself, your voice will come. Your voice will matter. Your voice does matter, so learn to use it and take advantage of it.

Words matter more than we can describe. The words that hurts you the most when you can only say it in your heart and can't physically utter out are the words that you should be saying when you have the chance to.

Why is it that when you want to speak up and say something, it seems to be the most horrible timing for it? You want to say what you have to say, but you can't because you think it will put some things at cost, but not being able to speak up about it is only killing you more about it. Have you gone through a moment like this? Perhaps the time you felt a heartache and you swallowed your words down instead of speaking up? The words that hurt you because you can'tspeak up are the words you should be voicing. You matter. What you have to say matters. So say it the next time you think otherwise.

Stop using mind games to try to communicate with someone, especially someone that you love. Use that voice!

It comes out of nature that we do this. We want them to know what we are thinking, or better yet, we expectthem to know what we are thinking. "They should know me by now. They should know better." Maybe that's right. But another thing that you don't see is that you're neglecting your voice. Why try to have someone figure out how you feel or what you want when you can just say it? "It's the thought that counts. They have to think of it first." OK, maybe that, but what if they don't? Whose to blame there? Maybe him/her, but also you because you didn't speak up at the end of the day. There are so many ways of miscommunication with the people that we love because we don't speak up for our needs and wants. We expect things from one another. We expect each other to speak up, yet we won't speak up for ourselves. So it's time that we change that.

Courage is a voice that we tend to hide. We have the courage within us, but it never manifests into our voice much, but when it does, it is a beautiful thing.

Nobody knows what you are thinking better than yourself. Maybe you need someone to help you figure out what you're thinking, but at the end of the day, you are the one who has to speak up for yourself. Most of the time, we want to and we tell ourselves that we will, but fear and doubt stops us. Don't let it stop you, even if it means that people will disagree with you. Be you, be courageous. Voicing your opinion and being true to yourself is the least that you owe to yourself and deserve. Because the stories you tell with your own voice is what will get you the voice you want people to hear you as.