A time to grow new brain cells

A time to grow new brain cells:

 Research shows that using your non dominant hand will grow brain cells and increase your creativity. I'm glad to know because I'm going to get tested.

I need surgery on my right shoulder  and my right arm is my dominant arm. I was told that I would not be able to use my right arm for two weeks and that my right arm would be in a cast for several weeks.

Since I injured myself six months ago, I use my left hand as much as possible because my right hand hurts so much. However, in recent months I have started to use my left hand with more intention to carry out the daily tasks I used to do  grooming, brushing my teeth, preparing food, feeding fluids, giving my cat medicine, you name it. Up my vitamins, pick up cat litter, wash. , carrying goods, etc.

I've never written and eaten with my left hand before, but since my surgery is less than a week away, I better get going.

Web research and thoughtful friends and family have given me great suggestions to help me overcome my unfortunate but necessary right-handedness. For example, water flossers and electric toothbrushes make brushing easier.

Since I can't get out of bed or in and out of bed for a month or two, I know that shoes and button-down shirts are a must, as are slips.

I love doing Sudoku and I learned that I can do it on the iPad with my left hand because I can enter numbers with one of my fingers. Sudoku is one way to relax and I'm glad I don't have to give it up.

In the last six months I have learned how to build a house. At first I used my left hand to lift heavy things - my older children and friends took over most of my heavy lifting needs.

My son unloaded my car and took home food and 30 pounds of cat litter at the same time. He took it upon himself to fill six bird feeders, pick up trash, and examine the lawn.

My daughter pushed and filled the grocery cart and cut the watermelon for me. I am very lucky that they both live closer to me.

My kind friends and colleagues brought my study materials and helped me set up the study room: moving tables and chairs, placing ends on the wall, filling candy containers and placing them on the table, table tops and distribution of participant materials, etc. Without your kind support, I could not have continued the training program for a year and a half.

How did I hurt my shoulder? On the way to Jordan and Dubai, I pulled four heavy weights from the airport and tore a vein. I also have a torn rotator cuff and impingement basically breaking the collarbone.

When I traveled on a different plane and had to climb a steep flight of stairs to get on it, I got bad and burned my arms and shoulders. I learned to ask people around me to go up the stairs or put their socks on my chair. I had no choice.

My surgeon wanted to schedule my surgery ahead of time, but I had study commitments to fulfill. Even now, I want to prolong the operation even more, I'm afraid I won't be able to do my job (!). But, there will never be a perfect time, so I have to deal with it now.

When I ask myself what I should learn from this situation, several answers come to mind. Here they are in no particular order:

1.

It is often okay and sometimes it is necessary to ask others for help. I have friends and family to help me through this.

2.

 Neuroplasticity will be a good experiment to see if using my non dominant hand will make me smarter and improve my creativity. It will have good and interesting side effects!

3.

 Acting like a bull has put me in this predicament. When I travel for work in the future, I will make sure the box and mail materials in advance and use the porter for all the extras.

4.

 As much as I hate to admit this fact of life, I am old and I need to be more realistic about my physical abilities and more deliberate about properly addressing my physical limitations.

5.

 This will challenge me to defy gravity at my desk for two weeks. Content creation and writing has been a daily practice for decades.

6.

 If I don't listen to my body, it ends up doing something so dramatic that I have to pay attention. In the end, these lessons must be learned and remembered.

7.

 I am always proud of my independence. Now I have to know and accept that there is no shame in relying on others.

8.

 Knowing that I will be sidelined while it has motivated me to get better at setting boundaries and managing expectations-for myself and my clients.

9.

 If the pain is not taken with medical help.