I do almost everything right handed – write, throw, eat, shoot (basketball, gun), etc.  Except one maybe surprising thing – drive to the hoop in basketball.  For some very weird reason, I find it difficult to get the timing and footwork correct for right handed drives and layups to the hoop.  When I think back, I recall making most of my corner jumpshots from the left side and rarely from the right.

This one is about quirks and unexpected advantages.

I grew up with a pretty underachieving professional hometown basketball team – the Washington Bullets.  Highly unlucky, mismanaged, incompetent, I not fully jokingly say I learned a lot about management from their example.  They did have one team that stood out in the mid 90s.  The team had Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Rod Strickland, Gheorge Muresan.  And their bench wasn’t half bad too.  They even gave the eventual NBA Champions – the Chicago Bulls a run for their money in the playoffs.  Even Michael Jordan predicted that they would be a future force in the league.  But as we say in the DC area, in So Bullets fashion, they screw it up majorly but that’s another story for another day.

My favorite player on that team, however, was probably Calbert Cheaney – their shooting guard/small forward and a fellow Hoosier.  He was, unlike most if not all of his teammates, left handed.  This gave him a tremendous advantage when he would drive and pull up against opponents who were more accustomed to guard right handed players.  Although I shot with my right hand, the fact I dribbled left somewhat better, gave me more separation and open space to pull up with a surprise jumper.

That left handed thing also applies outside of basketball.  In baseball, you can make a career out of being a one-inning left handed relief pitcher.  In fact, before the rule changed, you could even be a one-batter reliever.  This is how precious and rare a commodity you were – to face left handed batters.

I didn’t come up with this one but apparently there’s this hero in the Bible that was left-handed.  The scripture emphasizes and highlights that fact and it can be interpreted as a shortcoming that allows him to be underestimated.  Maybe true but again with God, probably more than  meets the eye.  There are physical as well as mental advantages.

This really isn’t about dominant hands – that really isn’t a quirk by itself.  It is about what makes us all special and how they can be unexpected sources of power and joy.  Look around, it’s all over.  Birds that can’t fly.  Fruits that aren’t sweet.  Poetry that doesn’t rhyme.  Songs with a chord outside the traditional pattern (Pearl Jam’s Alive chorus is E G D A – not usually found in many rock songs.)

If you notice, I rarely to never write about politics and legal issues.  I have a standing job offer to do that but I really don’t want to do that.  It would feel like torture and reliving pain.  But I also think this principle applies here too.  Donald Trump for example.  I’m pretty independent politically when I do engage but as a neutral strategist (as much as possible), how he won not only the nomination and presidency showcased this principle at work.

Embrace the quirk.  It not only makes you different, unique but also powerful.  I wrote the girl out of left field/with the short fuse about these two pitchers – Tim Wakefield and Todd Frohwirth.  Those who know how they pitched know what I’m talking about.  I’ll publish all that someday.