The other evening, I was untying my shoes and I noticed I was doing it with my left hand. Not just my left shoe, but both shoes. That caused me to pause, because I am right-handed. I switched around to use my right hand. Clearly, I could do it, but it wasn’t as comfortable. At that moment I realized that I don’t have enough important things to keep me busy.
While that was probably true, this left-hand, right-hand thing caused me to reflect. What else do I routinely do with my left hand? Not much. Of course, from time to time, we all itch. Sometimes you can only get to it with your non-dominant hand. No thought process here, you scratch!
When I am combing my hair, I pick up the comb with my right hand and comb away. I comb my hair to the right. If I don’t have a comb, I swipe my hair with my left hand. Isn’t this fascinating? Clearly, the right hand doesn’t work, swiping to the right. When I am watching a sporting event on TV and the game gets to a critical moment, I find myself swiping at about 80 swipes per minute. I hope nobody is watching.
When I’m getting ready to shave, I shake up the shaving gel in my right hand and squirt it into my left hand. Then, using my left hand, I apply the cream to my face. It feels very natural and I’m pretty good at covering my face. We are never graded on this, but I would give myself a B plus (in college, I was happy with a B minus).
About twenty years ago, my wife, Carole, was big into Korean Yoga. There was a location close by and she would practice two to three times a week. The practices were tough, but she hung in there. She brought a book home about Dahn Yoga and encouraged me to read it. I read it and there was a lot about balance and wholeness. The book encouraged using your opposite hand. I was doing OK with the little things, but then I tried to shave with my left hand. I put the band-aids on with my right hand.
I look things up on Google all the time. I very seldom follow their advice. I had a scratch on my glasses, and they recommended scrubbing the glass with toothpaste. Fortunately, before I did anything, I found another article screaming “don’t use toothpaste.” I looked up parents trying to change their child’s dominant hand. Some articles said, no problem. Other articles said the child would probably have psychological problems and be scarred for life.
Then I found out there is a “Handedness Research Institute.” Good old HRI. What a crazy world. I also found out that my son, Paul, who is right-handed, unties his shoes with his left hand. Now, I believe it might be hereditary!