Sep 17, 2007
So a bloke with a broken thumb walks into a bar…
Or: Ways a broken thumb changes your perspective
OK, my doctor told me Mountain biking is dangerous (told to me while he and I ware riding, incidentally) but until this weekend I'd been lucky - cuts and bruises, but nothing very serious. But Friday I had a nasty spill crossing a creek, and (with apologies to Mr. Rogers - who we loved) Can you say Avulsion fracture [1]?
The good news is a) xrays are all stored digitally now, so my Flickr account should be updated soon, b) it doesn't appear that surgery will be necessary, and c) I've learned a few things:
- Mountain biking is dangerous. I'll remember that next time I ride (sometime in November, sadly).
- I'm right handed, and it's surprising how many things you use your hand for. Glad I didn't break my foot!
- If I ever have to have my right hand amputated because of a combine accident [2], I'll be one a jump ahead of others who haven't had this kind of experience with the left hand.
- I have much more appreciation for the from-scratch learning that children do. I realize I took this somewhat for granted - it's slow to learn this way!
- I hope learning to use my left hand for things will help stave off Alzheimer's (my wife is an RN in an Alzheimer's unit). As Dr. Michael Merzenich says in the article Change or Die:
...the brain's ability to change -- its "plasticity" -- is lifelong. the key is keeping up the brain's machinery for learning... Unless you work on it, brain fitness often begins declining at around age 30 for men, a bit later for women. "People mistake being active for continuous learning," Merzenich says. "The machinery is only activated by learning. People think they're leading an interesting life when they haven't learned anything in 20 or 30 years. My suggestion is learn Spanish or the oboe."
Related to lifelong learning:- George Leonard encourages us in his book to "Dedicate yourself to lifelong learning:"To learn is to change. Education, whether it involves books, body, or behavior, is a process that changes the learner. ... and the best learning of all involves learning how to learn - that is, how to change.
- Brian Tracy writes that "committing yourself to lifelong personal and professional development" is one of the keys to the future.
- Peter Drucker says "We now accept the fact that learning is a lifelong process of keeping abreast of change. And the most pressing task is to teach people how to learn."
- lifehack.org shares 15 Steps to Cultivate Lifelong Learning.
- Tell someone how much you appreciate them. I really connected with the lessons from How Full Is Your Bucket? - I now carry "gratitude artifacts" to share with folks I interact with, including NASA stickers (love the meatball) and "drops" printed on-line. And uber-networker Tatsuya Nakagawa lists ways to express gratitude for someone you connect with in 15 Quick Ways to Give Value and Make a Positive Impression.
- Appreciate great customer service. I have bunch of stories, including a nifty one from the folks at the Rokenbok Toy Company. An escalated version of the above is to offer to send a letter of gratitude to the someone's supervisor. I do this regularly, and I find people are genuinely surprised and delighted. It takes about five minutes to write one by hand, and feels great to do!
- Ellen Weber has points out some ways gratitude transforms the human brain in Two Words Can Transform a Workplace. She writes: "Interestingly, the art and science of gratitude grows easier the more you practice it."
- Finally, don't forget the good old-fashioned thank you note. The Esquire article A Little Gratitude gives some great suggestions.
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