The full handshake

It is said that you can tell a lot about a person from the way they shake hands. I have to say I agree with this, but not in what is the typically criteria assessment.

I don't judge a person based purely on how firm or insipid their handshake is. For me it is more about how open their hand is - are they able and willing to make full and wholehearted contact with their hand into the hand of another.

One of my managers triggered this chain of thinking within me. Whenever he shook my hand it was as if he formed a dome with his fingers, meaning that only the minimal amount of skin contact was permitted. This summed up my relationship with him as well - there were times when we got close to uncovering something deeper in our relationship, only for him to back down and keep things at a certain distance.

The warmest handshakes I have received usually come from warm and wholehearted people - the type of handshake where I feel my hand being lost and hugged by another hand. Not overpowered, but the feeling of open embrace with nothing to hide.

Correct: I am reading way too much into handshakes. Don't get me started on hugs.