Photo by Gaelle Marcel on Unsplash.com

My last post about our hands got me thinking deeper on the subject of hands. I made the point that often we forget about taking care of our hands, and really, do we think much about them at all? Likely no, unless they’re not working as they should whether from an injury or illness.

One definition of contemplative practice is that it’s a reminder to connect to what we find most meaningful. Certainly our hands are meaningful to us and here are just some of the positive ways they make a tremendous impact in our lives.

We wave hello and perhaps shake hands or bump fists. We use the same gesture to wave goodbye and maybe kiss our fingers as the start of blowing a farewell kiss.

Our hands make it possible to create art. There are many forms such as drawing, throwing pottery, watercolor painting, photographing, creating sculpture, and finger-painting.

We create with our hands, whether that means sketching an architectural plan, writing a love letter or a novel, or typing a blog post.

Our world is filled with music with the help of our hands from the shaking of a tambourine or cowbell (that’s for any readers who might have once been hippies), to fingers racing across piano keys or hands holding a cello’s bow. When a musical performance ends, we clap our hands to show appreciation.

Our hands help us stay in shape by holding weights or supporting our own body weight in a Yoga position. We throw darts and footballs and dribble basketballs.

We plant spring bulbs, pull summer weeds, rake autumn leaves and shovel winter snow.

We talk with our hands; our gestures help convey our verbal message. Without saying a word, our hands can convey the message of stop, wait a second, or come on.

With our children we play peek-a-boo, move board game pieces, hold a “hand” of cards, and put together puzzles. We spoon out cough medicine when the kids are sick and we use our fingers to check for a feverish forehead. Our hands help us braid hair, tie shoes, and apply Big Bird Band-Aids to boo-boos.

Our hands help us in the process of creating meals from jotting that grocery list, putting items into our carts, paying at checkout, and everything else that goes into our being able to call out, “Dinner’s ready.” Kneading bread dough, filling a muffin cup with 2/3 of a cup of batter, or pouring chocolate chips into cookie dough isn’t possible without our hands. We wrap presents, tie bows, and decorate Christmas trees and Easter eggs with our hands’ assistance.

I’m just barely touching the seemingly endless list of the many ways our hands play a vital role in our lives.  Contemplate your own hands as you use them throughout the day tomorrow.

Photo courtesy of Geralt on Pixabay.com

The public speaking homework I had assigned my leadership students ended up being more difficult than it sounded.

From a list of sixty characteristics of an effective leader, each student was to choose just three and in a class presentation, convince the rest of us why their three chosen attributes were the most vital ones. They could also add their own choices to the list.

Here are just a few of the attributes from the list in alphabetical order:

Approachable / Effective communicator / Empowering / Exceptional decision maker / Forward thinker / Good listener / High integrity / Honest / Open to new ideas / Positive attitude / Resourceful / Sees problems and takes action / Sound character / Visionary

From this small sample, you can understand why it might be hard to choose just three from the full list of sixty.

The best presentations were from the students who considered a REAL past or present boss who was an amazing leader instead of just choosing from the list of words.  In an interesting twist, one student used a bad boss as his example and demonstrated how a good boss would have done things differently. You see, that particular bad boss hogged the credit when a group effort went well and blamed the team when the boss’s own idea produced a massive failure.

Anyhow, that homework assignment prodded my brain to consider my last post about wanting to be someone else when I was twelve. I came up with the question, “What attributes do I see today in other people that I’d like to incorporate into my own being to make me the best person I can be?”

I started by jotting down the names of people I admire and an attribute for each one. But because many of the people have multiple graces, I ended up with a jumbled page that resembled a Sheldon Cooper mathematical model and abstraction. I felt overwhelmed with how to parcel out the credit.

But then I figured, “Why identify the people by name?” Part of what makes good folks admirable is that they’re not looking for recognition or a pat on the back. And because a blogger tends to attract a certain readership base, my guess is that EVERYONE reading this post (and the friends to whom you forward it) are yourselves good people with the same high qualities.

So here is my baker’s dozen list of admirable attributes that YOU collectively possess that I strive to emulate:

Out-of-this-world kindness / Extreme generosity / Unending patience / Forgiveness in full, no strings attached / Everyday thoughtfulness / Willingness to make time for someone who needs you / Laughs easily and often but never at another’s expense / Remembers what is important to others / Quietly respectful / Works tirelessly for something you believe in / Encourages others in big issues and small ones / Influences others to be the best they can be / loves all of God’s creatures, regardless of how different or seemingly unlovable they may appear

I believe that others DO rub off on us and that, in addition to our own natures, we end up an abstract kaleidoscope of their goodness.