The Neglected Hand

A few years back a thought dawned upon me that my left hand was kind of neglected. I never use to incorporate it in my daily actions. Basically my right hand was the dominating one. If my left hand had a brain of its own it would probably give me the middle finger.

Whether you are left or right handed it doesn’t really matter, you still get the job done. What is interesting though, if you start to use the other hand for certain activities, you will notice how difficult it is to actually perform them. It makes you realize how idle one of your two hands really is. If you think about it for a second you have probably never ever used the other hand for some activities. Am I right?

When we use our regular hand it is a subconscious motion, you do not process the action in any way. Let us see some classic examples where you would most definitely neglect the other hand and where you can start to use it more:

1. Brushing your teeth. This is a real challenge. Start slowly.
2. Wiping your rear after going to the toilet. Getting use to lifting the other side can be quite difficult.
3. Stirring your tea or coffee. Could be messy.
4. Throwing a stone. “Ouch, you hit me”.

5. Putting food in your plate. “In the plate Andrew, not on the table.”
6. Masturbating (couldn’t be helped). For those of you considering to start using the other hand here, in the beginning it feels as though somebody else is performing this, so enjoy it whilst it lasts.
7. Writing. In the beginning it appears like Chinese. Very challenging.


Why would anyone want to start doing this:

1. Avoid overdependence on one hand.
2. Start to use muscles that have never been used.
3. You have two hands so you might as well use both.
4. A Challenge.
5. You will feel a sense of satisfaction over time.

When I started in the beginning it wasn’t easy but eventually i got the gist of things. There are still certain activities which I still need to work on.

You may consider allocating days which you will dedicate to the other hand. For example every other day in the week you will have a right or left day.

The same principle can be applied with your foot. Which foot do you start walking with? Which foot do you use to kick with? and so forth.

Such a task will help you use your conscious mind more before you actually perform any action. Most of our daily actions are a thoughtless process. It goes to show how much we operate on subconscious level most of the time.

Stop neglecting your other hand, start using it.