What disadvantage?

For anyone with two hands, I’m sure that having one hand is seen as a disadvantage. Makes sense.

But I don’t think amputees see it that way, or at least I don’t see it that way.

For Christmas, I bought one of my nephews the Rock ‘em Sock ‘em Robots game. For those of you who have never played or seen it, it’s the game where you grasp onto two buttons and rapidly push both until the head on your opponent’s robot pops up.

When I stepped up to take a crack at it — of course, after my nephew went through many rounds — my dad said to me, “You might be at a disadvantage here.”

I brushed off the comment, sat down, and quickly beat my dad at the game. What disadvantage?

I used my left arm to push one button and my right hand on the other. No problem.

Later the same day, I re-learned how to shoot pool. I say “re-learned” because I had played when I was younger and had two hands, but never really had the opportunity to try with one until now.

My dad and boyfriend suggested I use the bridge to help steady the pool stick, since that’s usually where your second hand comes into play. But I decided not to use it.

Was I being stubborn? Yes. But did I actually need it? Not really.

I used my arm to steady the pool stick and was able to shoot relatively well. Longer shots were more difficult — and I did use the bridge a few times for those shots — and shots where I had to hold the stick over another ball on the table didn’t go too smoothly.

But other than that, it didn’t seem any different to me. After nearly eight years of living with one, I’m still trying or re-trying things, but I’ve learned that if I think it through, I can figure out how to do just about anything that I did with two hands. It just takes a few extra seconds for me to pause, play out the new process in my head and then implement that new process.

Instead of thinking “maybe I can’t do this,” I think “how can I do this?” I might not have the right or best answer the first time, but I don’t think I’ve come across anything yet that I haven’t eventually figured out. I’m sure there will regularly be new challenges for me to face, but it keeps life interesting, right?

But in full disclosure, I did still lose in pool, but I don’t think that had anything to do with having one hand. I think my boyfriend is just better at pool than me, and I’m willing to admit that.