How Clean Are Your Hands?

Cleanliness, it is said, is next to godliness. What this apt and witty statement is trying to portray is that it is good to be clean. While every normal person maintains the routine of keeping the body neat by bathing very day, the most often neglected part of the body, yet the most important and most used, that is often neglected and not given the attention due it is the hand.

The hand is the most busy and most used part of the body; at least physically. Yet, most people don’t take care of it and so get into trouble. We use the hand to eat; to write as I am doing now typing these words; for shaking other hands; etc.

The hand ought to be kept clean always; and it is easy to do. The hand because of its constant usage is the most prone part of the body that contracts germs and from which germs are easily spread. Some people’s hands hide millions of germs and continually spread them every day through various means. When you sneeze, holding your nose with your hands; urinate; scratch your nose; you have inadvertently become a host to millions of bacteria and viruses. These germs are easily spread when you shake other people’s hands.

I saw a movie, The Aviator, with Leonardo Dicarpio as the main character where one of his eccentricities is not shaking people’s hands. In fact he had the habit of always wearing gloves. Also, the billionaire, Donald Trump said he hates shaking people’s hands because of the germs. Have you noticed the Japanese habit of bowing instead of shaking hands? It’s most probably from the fact that shaking hands is perhaps the most probably way through which germs are spread daily. So the Japanese learnt to take precautions! How smart!

Having Clean Hands

Actually, having clean hands always is possible. By clean hands, I mean your hands been free from germs. First, you must always learn to wash your hands with soap and water anytime you ease yourself. Also, form the habit of washing your hands anytime you come back from an outing. You don’t know what the hands of the people you shook might contact; but I am certain they contain lots and lots of germs. Washing the hands would only take a couple of minutes and you would have prevented possible infections and lots of dollars that would have been spent on future treatments should you contract an ailment.

Believe me, having clean hands is one sure step to true wellness and healthy living. Start today to make a conscious event to keep your hands clean. Before you grab that burger or pizza, ask yourself this question: “Are my hands clean?”