Idle Hands Syndrome- What Is It?

Christopher Hyer, Midland Texas Artist

Idle Hand Syndrome
by Christopher Hyer
 

The term comes from a movie that was produced years ago. Google the term “Idle Hands”, it is not what I have discovered through my trials and tribulations. I see the movie is rich and is a “B” movie that came out years ago. That is as far as it goes with the movie.

Idle hands are those people that are use to smoking and drinking, and find out after they have quit that their fingers and hand have nothing to do. Sounds a bit confusing, think about it? If you quit smoking, you are use to packing a carton of cigarettes and pulling one out and smoking. You will find that once you have stopped that you will avoid putting your fingers up to your mouth. You may need a bit of long candy to put in your fingers so you can hold something in your face. I caught myself doing this once I quit smoking. Always in my car I would turn up two fingers as to draw a cigarette out of my face and behold I had nothing in my hands. That is part of addiction to cigarettes and those who remain smoke free know what I am talking about. It may cause you to go back to smoking when you do this exercise of putting nothing up to your face for a hit. Idle hands are what I call this, the hands must be occupied to doing something, or you will go back to smoking.

Drinking a can of beer always, no matter how much or what time of day, once you quit you might have the habit of going to the refrigerator and look for a can of beer to open. Cuts and nicks off your hands are obvious if you are a heavy drinker. I also noticed when I quit drinking beer. Screwing off bottle caps and lifting tabs off a case of beer can cause you to cut your fingers. Its freaking crazy and funny when you find yourself doing these two acts. So what do you do about it? I have even unconsciously gone into a convenience store and picked up a six-pack of beer and put it on the counter, then remembering I don’t drink and putting it back into the refrigerator at the store. Now that is tough, and if you're this powerful, then God is surely on your side.

One thing is you don’t go back to drinking beer and smoking. Very important, because the idle hands syndrome can be taken care of. I will explain  a few ideas that have worked for me, and though radical in some cases, they are effective.

The image you see on this page is a image of oil artwork. I did that with idle hands. I was craving a smoke and instead put a paintbrush in my hands and painted, then I would stop. Sometimes it takes me a month to complete a painting. I have actually sold this garbage, I call art to people on Ebay.com and made money. See, there are wondrous things that come from quitting certain drugs and drinking. You get other skills to work with your idle hands.  Here is a short list to help with “Idle Hands” syndrome.

Having Idle Hands Syndrome- What to Do

·         Pick up and hold a pen while working like a cigarette

·         Buy cans of soda, or twist off Root Beer Bottles, they look like beer bottles

·         Buy you some Jerky and chew on this

·         Buy you electric cigarettes, if you have been off smokes for a while I would not advise this.

·         Buy some gum

·         Start painting, I made over 200.00 off three paintings that I sold off Ebay.com with no artistic experience.

·         Take photographs on the weekends, make money taking photos and selling them online

·         Write, write , and type, start a blog, join HubPages, make some money writing.( this has been the best for me), and make money off “Idle Hands”

You will soon discover that your “Idle Hands now have something to do and it is productive. It can make you money . By writing articles , you will learn that you have more talent than you think. Don’t go back to your old habits of smoking and drinking alcohol. Stay aware of your “Idle Hands” and don’t act on impulse or obsession. Ask God for help if needed, he will. I will be updating this blog often, so come back for more information. We will see how long this site will last by the hits I get.

Idle Hands is a syndrome that plaques all people who smoke and drink, and if not taking care of you could go back to the old habits. I see nothing on the Internet about having “Idle Hands” syndrome, but it exists. In talking to others who have quit the bad stuff, they also have either gone back to smoking because of Idle Hands or gone back to drinking beer. Take this as you may, it’s a theory that I found interesting in the last 6 years of sobriety. I have written many blogs and over a few hundred articles, and it has occupied my time. I have made over a few thousand dolars and made my own business with having idle hands in photography,writing, and art.  Email me at filmpro45@yahoo.com if you want more information or just want to talk about this. God Bless and have a good day. I will update this site daily. Christopher Hyer 05/25