public function getPreviousText()
	{
		$text = null;
		
		// get the element's preivous sibling element
		$previous = $this->getPreviousSibling();
		
		// while the previous sibling element exists and is not a text element
		while ($previous !== null && ! $previous instanceof \Jstewmc\Rtf\Element\Text) {
			$previous = $previous->getPreviousSibling();
		}
		
		// if a previous text element exists
		if ($previous !== null && $previous instanceof \Jstewmc\Rtf\Element\Text) {
			$text = $previous;
		}
		
		return $text;
	}