I was recently given something that I will see all day, every day I am at work. In a short amount of time, it has become one of my most precious possessions. It is a picture of two hands, one is older with visible wrinkles and the other much younger as it holds a crayon. The message underneath the picture is simple, but what it says to me that no one else can see is what takes my breath away. Today, my thoughts surrounded this simple depiction of one hand guiding and helping the other and became a focus of mine whenever I caught myself in its gaze. There are many things we do with one hand – we eat, we make a call, we write, we drink, we wave. The list is endless. Then I started thinking about how many things we do with two hands – we tie our shoes, we dig in the garden, we learn to drive a car, we put our pants on. This list is endless as well. Then I started to think about how big a part of our body our hands are and how some things are better with two hands, even though you can accomplish it with one. Like giving a hug. I am lucky if I get a hug at all, so even a one-armed hug from one of my sons is better than no hug, but I pick a two armed-two handed hug every time. I love hugs and always get one in return. Some things, like clapping, cannot be done with just one hand. You cannot give a high-five to someone without two hands. What I thought about most when I see the two hands is that I see one helping the other because one by itself is not enough. When our parents are teaching us to ride a bike, what do they all say? “Use two hands!” Why? Because they know that we need two hands to keep control of the bike and it also helps keep us balanced. We all need help at sometime in our life. We all need extra guidance to teach us something and when we learn something we usually get better at it. I am not one to accept assistance from others, even when I know I need it. I am stubborn and pig-headed at times; although I have also heard it described as “determined”. For a very long time, I was committed to doing it alone and would even accept failure as the outcome because I did it myself. I was going to prove to myself that I could do anything, if I just tried hard enough and long enough. I am extremely hard on myself because I have had to be in order to be successful and accomplish my goals. This week, I accepted assistance in a situation I was very nervous about because of lack of practice and internal pressure I self-imposed. I also had to quit questioning someone’s intentions as I wanted to run away. The two hands remind me of someone who is always there to help, should I need it. Two hands are always better than one.

Michelle Homme 2011 ©