Overall 40 percent of us are left-eared, 30 percent are left-eyed and 20 percent are left-footed, but only 10 percent of us are left-handed. I have the privilege of being all of these, so I’m an extreme “Leftie.” Though one might not think about which ear they hold their phone against or which foot they lead with, these strange asymmetries actually play into our natural built-in strengths.

However, for those of us who are left-handed and in the minority, being a “leftie” was often looked down upon. In fact, 50 years ago when I started school and was already using my left hand to color and write my name, many teachers tried to change me. Left-handedness was considered backwards and was often drummed out of errant schoolchildren who simply didn’t want to use the correct hand. So even though I continued to use my left hand most of the time when teachers weren’t looking, I still had to learn to use my right hand to write my name etc. By the time I entered fourth grade though, I was tired of switching my comfort to please the teacher. That’s when my little defiant self decided to wrap a left-handed fist around my pencil and refuse to let go. Of course it got my left hand bopped with a wooden ruler across my knuckles by Mrs. #$%@&! (No I won’t call her out tee hee) However, the incident got my daddy so fired up that he went to the school principal and let him know that I would be using whatever hand I wanted to use from that day forward or he would be seeing some of them in court. Ironically my daddy was usually very laid back, but I honestly believe he had succumbed to the same sort of negative dealings when he was in school which made him end up being ambidextrous where he could use either hand equally. Needless to say I’ve been using my little left-hand ever since but unfortunately I still hold my pencil in a fist.

Though the word “left” comes from the Anglo-Saxon word “lyft” which means “weak,” the Latin translation is “dexter” and means “skill and righteousness.” This makes me believe that us “lefties” are in the top 10 percent of our class in more ways than one, and we are in fact, quite rare and unique.

So what really makes us right or left-handed? Today we know that being left-handed or right-handed is really more about genetics. It’s literally in our genes and there may be up to 40 different genes at play, but scientists still can’t figure out why “lefties” are the minority.

Yet recent studies have shown that nine out of ten babies in the womb have already determined which hand they prefer and that’s the thumb that they suck on. This makes me think of Jeremiah 1:5 that states “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart…” So God knew exactly how He was going to make me – blonde hair, blue-eyed and left-handed.

However, being left-handed I too have often wondered why I was made so opposite than others. My brain truly seems to think differently than many around me, but yet it’s similar with two of my coworkers who are also left-handed. In fact, three out of five of us at the newspaper office are “lefties.” Ironically I believe Shauna and Daphanie think a lot like I do, maybe because we are in our “right” minds, since “lefties” use the right side of their brain.

The right side of the brain functions include: lefthand control, 3D perception (the whole picture), music and art awareness, creativity, imagination, intuition, emotional expression and spatial awareness. While the left side of the brain functions include: right-hand control, number skills, written skills, facts, ideas and logic. Due to each side of the brain compartmentalized differently, lefties in their right minds seem to have the upper hand at multitasking.

However, being left-handed has its downfalls too. Lefties are more susceptible to migraines, insomnia and even allergies. Left-handedness has also been linked to stuttering and dyslexia, particularly if forced to switch hands as children. The truth is lefties are just wired differently. So we tend to be ambiguous, stubborn, obsessive, witty, exasperating, infuriating and uniquely original. You might even say we are a little dramatic and we agree, we are definitely different, but at least we are never dull, baby.