Sometimes, through no fault of your own—or possibly because you were doing something stupid—fate dictates that you should lose the use of your "good hand." Hopefully this is just a temporary situation, like an injury that puts your arm in a sling. Of course, many are not as lucky and suffer a permanent loss. In either case, we must adapt and teach ourselves to go about our lives using our non-dominant hand. It's a difficult transition; If you're right-handed, try typing an email using only your left hand to get a taste of what you'd be in for.
My own injury was infuriatingly avoidable. I was snowboarding on some easy terrain and going about my turns a little more casually than usual. I caught an edge in a soft patch and went down. My arm lodged itself into the snow, my body kept going, and POP! Elbow dislocation, dominant arm, extraordinary pain, recovery time of one to three months.
When you suddenly lose the ability to use your dominant hand, you quickly realize all the things you've taken for granted. Tasks you've been able to do unconsciously for decades suddenly present a real challenge. It's a humbling experience. While learning to use your non-dominant hand can be a valuable life skill, that takes months of training. Meanwhile, you've got a life to live, dammit. There's work to get done. Thankfully, technology exists to help get you through the awkwardness.
Speak Your Mind
If you have long documents or emails to write, just pony up and purchase Dragon Dictation[1]. This speech-to-text software has been around in one form or another for about four decades. 20 years ago, my uncle (who has only one hand) had a version that he...