In Appreciation for My Right Hand (or What Else Have I Taken for Granted?) by Rev. Kathy Chatterton

In Appreciation for My Right Hand (or What Else Have I Taken for Granted?) by Rev. Kathy Chatterton


“We don't appreciate what we have until it's gone. Freedom is like that. It's like air. When you have it, you don't notice it.”

--Boris Yeltsin (President of Russia)


This quote from Boris Yeltsin applies to my situation with my right hand. I am right-hand dominant, and I didn’t appreciate that right hand until I was "attacked" by an uneven sidewalk, sending me to the concrete in October 2025. 


Image:   Broken Sidewalk to illustrate the dangers of walking (but not the actual sidewalk that Rev. Kathy fell on...)  Photo credit: Emilio Garcia @piensaenpixel 

Two months passed before an MRI revealed that the problem with my right- hand pinkie finger was an ulnar dislocation in the wrist. Since I was going back- and-forth from Phoenix to Boise, it was difficult to coordinate medical attention.

My Boise provider was reluctant to recommend surgery since it would limit the range of motion in my pinkie and ring fingers. However, a Sun City West provider told me that the only way the dislocation could be corrected would be through surgery. Since it was 4-1/2 months since the fall that caused the dislocation, it would require an incision to clean up scar tissue and then two pins to stabilize the dislocated bone (known as ORIF or open reduction, internal fixation). My hand was immobilized in a cast for 6 weeks. During that time, I realized how important my right hand is to me. I used my right hand for so many tasks, but I never appreciated it until I couldn’t use it.

Now that my hand is healing and regaining range of motion as well as strength, I wonder what else I’ve taken for granted. Rev. Gyomay Kubose writes in his book EVERYDAY SUCHNESS that we should show gratitude to our shoes. We should take them off at the end of the day, place them carefully in the closet side-by-side (not tossed in carelessly), and gassho (place our palms together) and bow to our shoes. They have protected our feet all day long, carried us around on errands and on walks, helping us in so many ways. Despite all their work, shoes don’t receive any recognition and are often overlooked.

Shin Buddhism reminds us that there are many causes and conditions that make our lives possible. We don’t pay enough attention to these causes and conditions and show our appreciation. Think about the people involved in your life. Your grandparents, parents, friends, schoolteachers, and many others made sure you had what was needed to succeed in life. Grocery stores, farmers, dairymen, truck drivers make sure we have food to survive. Just as the opening quote says, we don’t realize what we have until it is gone. The same can be said of my right hand. Those 6 weeks in a cast made me realize how important my right hand is to me. Without its use, I couldn’t write legibly, cut my own food, lift and carry objects with two hands, or even gassho with the nenju around my hands. I was only able to do a one-handed gassho which seemed so inadequate.

My hope is that this experience makes me more aware of all the causes and conditions that make my life possible. The use of two hands and feet is invaluable.

Friends are there to support you through life difficulties. Grandparents and parents provided important life lessons that support you each day. There is so much to be grateful for, and we shouldn’t take anything in our lives for granted.


NAMO AMIDA BUTSU

Rev. Kathy

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