Need to Understand

Two Cents Tuesday is here!

I don’t know about you, but I have a need to understand things.  And it’s exactly that – a need.  Not a want, not a desire, it’s something I need.

The reason I need to understand is so I can feel comfortable.  And secure.  Knowing – that I have the information by which to make decisions and judgments.  (Like why the “e” is not always used in the spelling of the word judgment…tres confusing.)

But seriously, when I am not educated in a topic and yet I have to deal with it – in work or in life – I feel vulnerable.  I feel confused and suspicious.  It’s not a nice feeling, but it’s there.  It’s that feeling that because I don’t understand something, that I can be taken advantage of.

Case in point – is my current mortgage application.  I’m jumping through all the necessary hoops as required by the broker, the bank and my attorney.  But it’s all making me feel….well, annoyed.  And distrustful.  That my best interests are not top priority here.

I’m not so naive to believe that everyone isn’t out for their own gain…I understand that is the nature of “business.”  It’s more about feeling at a disadvantage because I’m not an expert in the “rules” of the game, which leaves me open for tackling.  Yes, I know that’s why we hire experts to inform us (our lawyers per se), but I’m not one to just take someone else’s word for things – I would like to have some basic understanding of what’s going on around me.

Perhaps it’s a fault of mine…to want to process information.  To need to feel a sense of control, no matter how small, over how I conduct myself and how others treat me.

I also know that it’s nearly impossible to fully grasp every concept I encounter, or understand every legal document I’m ever going to sign…that would take a lifetime and unending schooling to accomplish.  But I think it’s important we take ownership of what we learn, of what we understand and don’t understand.  That we ask the questions – repeatedly if necessary – so that we may gain the comfort that knowledge brings. – BB