How Do You Hand-le It?

If you had to choose to lose your hands or your feet, which would you give up? A ridiculous question, I think, but it was recently posed to me, and despite its ridiculousness, it made me think a little. Obviously, losing any limb would not be ideal, and those who know me probably already know what a tragedy it would be for me to not have feet on which to display my shoes every day. Yes, it is true, I would be somewhat lost without excellent footwear, my soles being connected to my soul. (Don’t judge!) I did think though about hands and how trying to function without them would make life as I know it impossible. I don’t tend to think anything is actually, totally, undeniably impossible, but to exist just as I do now, with no hands, it might just be the one thing that fits into that category.

As I was thinking about what would be different if I had no hands, I started to think about the ways in which other people’s hands are important to me (I’ll give you a minute to get your mind out of the gutter, just in case it went there for a moment). As a baby, a young child, you depend on someone else for just about everything, their hands being the ones that feed you, change you, clean you, comfort you, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. As you grow, you enjoy playing with friends, and their hands are the ones that join yours for afternoons of coloring, playing jacks, Barbies, baseball, or skipping rocks. As adults, we are introduced to people in various settings and a one-sided handshake, well not nearly as effective. As I travel through a day, I realize how many people’s hands still touch my life, physically and figuratively. It may seem like an odd thing to notice or think about, but well, we all know I possess many quirks. Love them or hate them, they are what most often lead to a blog actually getting written.

Let’s explore who I’ve “held hands with” recently:

A grandparent, providing comfort and expressing love

A musician, one who shares beautiful melodies with hundreds of people each weekend as she leads and accompanies others

A parent who gave a much needed hug and with it, understanding and compassion

A friend who shared a toast to just being together at dinner

A co-worker who I worked closely with to successfully complete a project

A troop leader in need of some tech assistance

A child who dropped his blanket at the grocery store, gazing sadly, waiting for it to be picked up

A niece who climbed onto my lap with a smile, wanting just a cuddle and some reassurance

A sibling who needed his tie straightened, needing to look his best for a special occasion

A bank teller who most carefully counted out my cash, smiling the whole time

A barista who took the time to make my Starbucks drink just the way I like it

A friend who sent a hand-written card, just to say hi

A friend who called to chat about the goings on that we miss living far away from one another

A family member who unwrapped a gift, lovingly selected and wrapped just for her

A nurse who cared for a loved one in the kindest and most gentle way

A sibling who indulged my love of dancing by asking for a certain song to played and then dancing with me as a whole room was entertained

A driver who kindly let me merge into his lane, waving at me to acknowledge my wave of appreciation

A group of kids who were excited about getting their faces painted

A nail tech who took a few extra minutes with the hand massage, somehow knowing I needed it

A group that needed extra hands to clean up after an event

A stylist know cuts and colors my hair to near perfection every single time

A whole orchestra, coming together to enjoy making music together

It may not seem like much, but if you really think about it, not only are our own hands so important to our every day lives, but the hands of others “touch” us in so many ways, more often than we ever realize it. I am grateful and blessed to have my hands and to be able to use them for so many different things, to type, to write, to take care of myself, to carry things, to drive, to eat, to play games, to make music. Heck, I am even happy to have hands to do unimportant things like change the channel with the remote, to stir sugar into my tea, to update Facebook, to text.

Oh and of course, there is always using them to put on my fabulous soles!

How do your hands “touch” the lives of others and how do their “touch” yours?