Do you know a “southpaw” or are you one?

In commemoration of International Left Handers Day on August 13, I’d like to give all of us southpaws kudos! The tag line is:

Celebrate your right to be left-handed!

 

The day August 13^th is meant to promote awareness of the inconveniences facing left-handers in a predominantly right-handed world. It celebrates our uniqueness and difference-we who make up 7-10% of the world’s population. (including me, my dad, my son, and my husband!)

What about you? Who do you know that’s left-handed? Are you?

 

 Consider that the ranks of left handers include such luminaries as Aristotle, Leonardo da Vinci, Bill Gates, Jimi Hendrix,  Oprah Winfrey, as well as  Napoleon, Prince William, several presidents, and (do you think?) all  351 residents of Left Hand W.VA?. (Nah, probably not)

 

(Einstein was not left-handed,

contrary to some reports,

and neither are polar bears,

a surprisingly common myth

rejected by Polar Bears International).

 Which is Better?

In spite of a long-standing belief, left-handed people are not any clumsier than right-handed people. We do have trouble manipulating items that are made for right-handed use, such as can openers or scissors, but actually manage better than right-handed people who attempt to use similar items made for left-handed people!

So let’s remove those stereotypes of “two left feet” or “left handed compliment.” Why couldn’t it just as easily be” two right feet” or “right handed compliment?”

So what, if any, difference does it make whether you’re right- or left-handed?

Being left- or right-handed has to do with how the right and left sides of the brain relate to one another, and evidence supports the idea that there are clear differences between the way left-handed and right-handed people think.

Studies indicate that lefties do have some significant advantages over right-handed people. They tend to be more athletically inclined, to have more spatial awareness and to think more quickly.

(Maybe some of us lefties have some of these advantages, but my athletic skills have always left a lot to be desired!)

 We can all improve!

And even if you are not so fortunate to be left-handed, you can still take advantage of your left hand’s abilities.

So, if you haven’t given your left hand its proper due, consider what it can do for you.

• By squeezing a ball with the left hand, which activates the right hemisphere of the brain, participants in a 2010 study in Israel scored higher on a creative problem-solving test than those who squeezed a ball with the right hand and others who did nothing with their hands.

 

• In a 2012 study, German researchers found that right-handed athletes were less likely to choke under pressure when they clenched their left fists before competition. By activating the brain’s right hemisphere this way, these athletes were limiting the possibility of over-thinking their movements or ruminating (associated with the left hemisphere) and more likely to rely on motor skills developed over years of performance (associated with the right hemisphere).

 

So, have you found any specific advantages or disadvantages to your “handedness?” Are there any incidents you’ve observed that favor one hand over the other?

Please share!

Tags: daVinci, Gates, Hendrix, International Left Handers Day, left handed, Oprah, right handed