Conquering The World Single Handed

This is going to be a short post this week. The reason? I can only type with one hand. The Universe decided that I needed a case of tendinitis in my left wrist caused by lifting a chair in what was obviously the wrong way.. I was sure that there was a lesson to be learned from this experience and as soon as I was able to get beyond the screaming in pain, trip to the doctor, professional wrap job and pain meds, I settled myself down to figure out what it was.

The first thing that came to mind was having to learn to do things with only one hand. Showering wasn't too difficult but washing and drying my hair was a challenge. Add putting on my makeup to that list. Then there was dressing myself. Obviously I went for things that were really easy to slip on and off ... thank heaven for sports bras (no clasp, just slip it on over your head). Summer means sandals to slide into, and I even own a pair of sneakers with Velcro straps so I could still go walking.

The real test was getting myself to work on the bus with purse and tote bag in tow, not to mention actually working which entailed answering the phone, computer work and assorted office tasks. I was able to master all of them although by the end of the day I was pretty tired and the good hand was starting to ache. As for feeding myself, the magic of microwaves saved the day although my daughter and granddaughter had to come over and work the can opener for me which absolutely needs two hands.

So what did learning to do things with one hand teach me? It taught me that we do not have to be daunted by what seems like physical or psychological limitations when attempting to learn to do something new. So many people I know that are my age deny themselves the excitement and opportunity to learn new things because they think that their age or some physical issue - or perceived physical issue - puts them out of the game. They think they are too old to learn, period. Nothing could be further from the truth. The best thing we can do to guarantee a healthy, happy mind and body is to keep learning new things. I see evidence of that everywhere, from reports in the news and online from studies done on this very topic, to the folks I see around town who are busy attending classes for this or that and having a blast. Never, never, tell yourself that there is anything you cannot learn. You only need to believe in yourself and give it a try.

As for me, obviously I am getting better at this one-handed typing than I realized because the post wasn't that short after all. Right after I microwave my veggie burger I think I'll tackle one-handed vacuuming. How hard can it be?

And so it is.