Hearing aids again - urgent please ☺️

[cris]

Hello fellow Clarity seekers,

As some of you may recall, my mother lost one of her hearing aids and has been doing a free trial of newer and better ones. With year end approaching, we are required to make a choice, and in less than 12 hours I have to let the seller know whether we want to purchase or return them. I'm super undecided - it's a substantial investment and although mum's hearing has improved I'm not convinced this is the optimal option. In addition, the rush of the situation combined with the fact that we are now in a different city than the HA shop and hence unable to discuss the potential transaction with the seller thoroughly makes me uncomfortable.

Not buying the HAs: 22.1,3,6 > 2
Buying the HAs: 40.4 > 7

Releasing the thumbs (40.4): letting go of the HAs or of my skepticism? Getting out of the carriage (22.1): putting this option aside? I wonder if the first reading means that this HA solution is merely cosmetic. In other words, I'm lost. Any help will be super appreciated!

 

[MuddyMac]

I think this is saying that you need to let go of the urgency to make a decision right now, when you don’t feel like you have all the information you need to make a choice. If you return the free trial hearing aids, it does not mean you could not buy them at a later date after trying out other pairs, or after doing more research on the ones you had on trial.

 

[Liselle]

Is insurance involved? Is that why the end of the year is important, or is it something else? It sounds to me like you have 2 deadlines, the end of the year, and also 12 hours from now - is that right?

Not sure of this, but the 22 to 2 reading overall sounds to me like if you don't buy them, things will go back to earth, to a wide-open field of options. But I'm not sure if that's good or not.

How do your mother and you feel about doing more trials?

Does you mother have a sense of how these compare to the ones she lost, and how did she feel about those? Or is it hard to tell? (I'm imagining a difference between comparing several dishes of vanilla ice cream at once when they're all in front of you, vs. having one today and another 2 weeks from now, and unless the difference is dramatic you might have trouble remembering.)

22's oracle says
'Beauty. Creating success.
Small harvest in having a direction to go.'

'Having a direction to go' might be important. That's Yi's response to not buying them, where you'd be forced to have a direction to go (keep trying). There's only 'small harvest' in that, not splendid good fortune.

The lines are tricky for me. Will try unscientific guessing and impressions.

Line 1 - if you don't get these, you'll have legwork and running around to try more.

Line 3 - really not sure. Opinions on this vary, from something shiny but temporary, to 'a state of resplendent health' (Hi!ary in WikiWing - except I'm not sure Hilary always says that. It might depend on context.) Stray thought in this context: if you return these to look for others, would you be aiming to chase something "shinier" which may or may not exist? That might go along with "small harvest."

Line 6 - 'White beauty. No mistake.'
My first reacton was to tie this to hexagram 2 - if you return them you'll have plain undyed cloth, a.k.a. wide open possibilities. It says "No mistake" - fine - except that cou!d just as easi!y be translated as "no blame" or "no ancestors will be angry." (I think to the ancient Chinese, the point of divination was to find out which long-passed ancestor would be angered by the proposed action, so this omen was good news: none of them.) But that's not necessarily the same as saying it's a splendid idea.

Next reading, for keeping them, 40.4 to 7. You'll have gotten this done (7), you'll be released from grasping onto it as a task. There's truth and confidence here, which is nice.

40 also means there's no coercion. Maybe neither decision is wrong (but remember 22's small harvest).

I wonder if it just won't make very much difference, hearing-wise? So maybe decide on other criteria, like whether or not you want to keep looking. It's more time and work, but you might end up feeling better if you know you haven't missed anything.

 

[cris]

I think this is saying that you need to let go of the urgency to make a decision right now, when you don’t feel like you have all the information you need to make a choice. If you return the free trial hearing aids, it does not mean you could not buy them at a later date after trying out other pairs, or after doing more research on the ones you had on trial.

Thanks, MuddyMac. This is exactly how I feel. Returning them should only give us more time to consider other potential options, but not prevent us from getting the same HAs should that be the conclusion of our search.

 

[cris]

Is insurance involved? Is that why the end of the year is important, or is it something else? It sounds to me like you have 2 deadlines, the end of the year, and also 12 hours from now - is that right?

The end of the year is the ultimate deadline, however considering the holiday period I need to communicate our decision in a handful of hours to allow all necessary steps to take place (payment, contracting, invoicing vs. product return).

How do your mother and you feel about doing more trials?

Does you mother have a sense of how these compare to the ones she lost, and how did she feel about those? Or is it hard to tell? (I'm imagining a difference between comparing several dishes of vanilla ice cream at once when they're all in front of you, vs. having one today and another 2 weeks from now, and unless the difference is dramatic you might have trouble remembering.)

Mum likes the free trial HAs. If we were to run more trials she would not be able to compare them - but I would, in terms of her ability to hear in different situations. The fact that she would prefer to keep these ones is the main source of my dilemma - I don't want to cause her stress having her go back to a sub-optimal condition (one HA only, and a less performing one at that), albeit for a limited amount of time. On the other hand I really feel this would be a rushed decision.

22's oracle says
'Beauty. Creating success.
Small harvest in having a direction to go.'

'Having a direction to go' might be important. That's Yi's response to not buying them, where you'd be forced to have a direction to go (keep trying). There's only 'small harvest' in that, not splendid good fortune.

I'm aware of that, and it is another reason for the dilemma. The free trial is provided by the #1 HA company in my country - there do not seem to be comparable alternatives on the marketplace in terms of after sale assistance, which is critical for such purchases. Chances are we'd end up buying from them anyway, and likely at a higher price - but more consciously and based on clearer elements. That is... having the time to collect them, which is not a given.

Next reading, for keeping them, 40.4 to 7. You'll have gotten this done (7), you'll be released from grasping onto it as a task. There's truth and confidence here, which is nice.

40 also means there's no coercion. Maybe neither decision is wrong (but remember 22's small harvest).

I wonder if it just won't make very much difference, hearing-wise? So maybe decide on other criteria, like whether or not you want to keep looking. It's more time and work, but you might end up feeling better if you know you haven't missed anything.

This is the point. By now I sense we would not be aiming for something significantly different. I also know it would take time and work to look for other options - which I don't have. Still, I'd prefer not to take this decision hurriedly, knowing it will bind us for several years.

 

[IrfanK]

Nothing to do with the reading, but I'm a hearing aid user and heavily dependent on it. There's an interesting point about comparing hearing aids: if you try two and the second one is slightly better, most people barely notice -- but if the first one is better, people almost always do notice. My audiologist said it's very psychological, people just tend to notice more when things get worse rather than when they get better. But it's a well recognized phenomena, and hearing aid sales people are always told to make sure that people try the good one first.

 

[cris]

To resolve my undecidedness, during the night I did two more castings:

- What to do? 43.0
- How about giving the HAs back and doing another trial early next year? 29.0

So I took the hint, spent over 20 minutes on the phone with the shop's audiologist this morning to clarify my doubts (43.0), ruled out the option of repeated trials (29.0), released my mistrust (40.4) and made the purchase. Will let you know how this pans out in the mid to long term

Thanks Liselle and IrfanK for your insights!

 

[cris]

In hindsight, 40.4 meant to go for it with no hesitation. That was reinforced by 43 unchanging. The purchase has been very effective - never looked back.