Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Cracking Your Knuckles

I pop/crack my joints. Fingers, wrists, elbows, back, hip, knees, ankles, toes and neck. Yep. I’m a popper. Now you know. What is the relevance of this information? Glad you asked.
Habits/Routines and the effect on others.

Things we do, both consciously and unconsciously, have an effect on other people. Think of the contagious yawn. We see someone yawn and we yawn. Or, in a classroom when someone clears their throat or coughs and several others see the opportunity to do the same. Knuckle cracking is the sort of the same but a little different.

Some people are grossed out by hearing the sound of a joint being popped. I respect this, although, I do take pride in my pops. The louder the pop the more proud I am of it. I usually have the greatest sense of accomplishment in a pop with my right thumb. The joint where the thumb meets the hand, (the proximal phalange meets the metacarpal bone). By placing the base of my left palm directly over the top of this joint and pressing downward directly on the joint I can create a pop sound beyond imagination. I usually get one or two good pops out of this joint in a day. Each one is a victory!

I have specific techniques and processes to follow to get certain joints to pop. We learn as we go what works and what doesn’t work.

So regarding habits and routines what are you doing (or not doing) that has an effect on other people? Everything that you do has some kind of an effect on other people. Be it directly or indirectly, your actions do have an effect on others.

Does this change the way we behave? In most cases no. Should it change the way we behave? It depends on what we are doing (or not doing). This brings about another point. Not reacting or not acting on something is just as much of an action/reaction. Our choices have an effect whether we do something or don’t do something in our given situation. There is a price to pay or an award to receive when we react or don’t react.

Medical doctor Donald Unger conducted an experiment in which he regularly cracked the knuckles of his left hand for fifty years while not manipulating those of his right. No arthritis or other ailments formed in either hand, and he was awarded 2009's Nobel Prize in Medicine.

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GO DO!™
By Tony Wolfe

1 comment:

  1. Hello Tony,

    Great blog post here. I especially like the part about avoiding taking action -- is an action. We are constantly in the process of "doing". We have a choice to decide what to GO DO!™ Now!!

    Thank you for your message.

    Bob

    ReplyDelete