Understanding is Power
“To understand and be understood takes all of us to another level whether that’s developing a new project, learning a new skill or connecting with each other.”
Questioning, reckoning, calculating… The constant deciphering of information to decode what it really means to exist in this world. To find the deeper meaning of things. How do we find the answers? Where do we begin?
Understanding one another, the self and how certain parts of life work in this world is the powerhouse for what generates our potential in life. Without understanding and correct decision making skills, we have nothing but animalistic urges and ignorance to a degree. With only these urges, lack of understanding, no sense of direction or proper decision making skills, we may have never evolved into the competent beings that we are today. Thanks to our advanced development of the prefrontal cortex, we have established a complex behavioral performance. This is how we have reached where we are today. This is the foundation to all of humanity’s untapped potential; understanding and development.
Given that we can continue to make decisions on a day to day basis we have sustained the top of the food chain determining who or what lives and dies, what particular behaviors and genetics are carried on, and who is in charge. Of course, this a more cut and dry way of looking at things. These options dictate the future and will continue to do so until we have died and become extinct. The ability to produce and create isn’t humanity’s only second nature at this point. We have established institutions, facilities, structures and systems to communicate, educate, discipline and support one another. In this day and age, the modern woman and man have more possibilities to decide how their life will unfold than ever before. The average human being makes 35,000 decisions per day. That’s just on average. No wonder each of us influence and impact each other more than we know, especially with social media now. With that many decisions and the human population currently sitting at 7.9 billion that’s around 276,500,000,000,000 decisions total in a day. Outstanding.
So where does this take us in the path of understanding?
What do decisions have to do with understanding in the first place?
Many of our decisions are based primarily upon information that is either currently or was previously available to us. This allows forethought of ideas to spring out of thin air through the usage of either divergent or convergent thinking. By utilizing divergent thinking as Anne Manning puts it, co instructor of Creative Thinking: Innovative Solutions to Complex Challenges, “…is coming up with ideas. Going out and exploring possibilities…”, whereas convergent thinking is, “…about taking ideas, thinking about them, reflecting on them, improving them and coming up with decisions…” The first form of thinking resources imagination and creativity also known as horizontal thinking. This questioning of thought begets ideas. The second form of thought resources logic and critical thinking skills also known as linear, analytical and vertical thinking. These answer provoking thoughts beget factual evidence to support its claim. Utilizing both of these versions of thinking simultaneously is called lateral thinking.
No matter where you are in life, you can efficiently increase the level of your understanding with these different forms of thinking and approach to life. The fundamental basis of making decisions rests on these key elements.
The entirety of it all is cyclical in nature. This is how we learn, after all.
This is what understanding is all about.
Now what happens when you want to be understood, and how is understanding powerful itself?
Well let’s start off with understanding in general and how it can be powerful.
Already given the context previously, you can see how having a sense of understanding can be tremendously beneficial. Now I want you to practice an exercise:
Close your eyes and think of the most intriguing and interesting thing you’d like to know more about. It can be anything you want. It could be a person, a subject, a place, a memory, etc. Anything, whatever you choose. Use your imagination and focus on what it might look like to have this knowledge. Think of the kind of person you might become or where you would be in life. How does that feel? Is it exhilarating? Is it blissful? Is it passionate? Whatever it may be and however it makes you feel, continue to harness that thought in mind.
Now open your eyes.
If you can, take a pen and paper or use a piece of technology to jot down a note.
Write down what that intriguing thing looks like and as many possible things as you can that relate to it. Now you get to use those relevant topics as ways to have a greater sense of understanding for what you’re aiming at. For how incredibly simple this process is, it can prove to be very powerful once followed through with action.
It may be a simple exercise, but it’s the ability to understand what it takes to get from point A to point B that puts things into perspective for you. This way, you can also see whether you have a realistic approach.
If there’s nothing you can think of off the top of your head that you’d like to have a better understanding of, then you might be able to find something to start with here.
Now if you’d like to be understood then that is something special I believe. Not everyone can find someone else who is always willing to take the time and energy to get to know you. Most importantly, not everyone takes the time that is required to understand themselves. Not every place you go is going to feel like home. Not every thing you do will come naturally, but in time I believe that we all get a certain amount of opportunities to zero in on if we’re lucky. Of course, you can make the case that there are people less fortunate or others that have it better off, but where’s the opportunity in that itself? If you truly want to be understood in life, sometimes you have to be willing to fight for what you believe in and allow people to see you for who you really are deep down inside. That’s a courageous act.
To understand and to be understood is powerful.
(I couldn’t decide between the two videos, so I’ll leave it to you. This way whether you’re looking for something motivational or theoretical, you get both.)
(In this video shown, I want to make it clear how it serves as a good example for what impact the ability to have an understanding is. By allowing oneself to digest the information and then communicate it properly, it can be received on the other end. It also shows how one small differentiation in data can change the outcome entirely if not comprehended fully.)
Enjoy.
