Figuring stuff out

I came to a realization today that I like to figure stuff out. That might not seem like a major feat, but it was encouraging to me as I figured out just a little more about how God has wired me.

This revelation is not actually completely new either. I have known for some time that I like to figure things out, especially people. I have also known for some time that the most frustrating times for me are when I don’t understand something and can’t seem to make any sense of it.

How did I learn this ‘new’ lesson?

I took apart a friend’s laptop to narrow down why exactly it was not charging the battery any more (after being dropped while plugged in) and discovered that the problem should be pretty easily fixed, assuming the right part is available.

I took apart the valve stems in my kids' bike tires to figure out why one of them was not allowing air to pass through and learned how differently they make those things over here, and yet in spite of doing it differently (not ‘wrong’ as some might say) it works quite well in fact.

I took apart a cell phone to try to figure out if there was a mechanical reason why it was not working, only to discover that if the ‘sim’ card is not installed the phone does not work – duh! Note to self, check for the obvious first.

I partially disassembled my office chair to figure out why it had developed a significant lean to one side while I was gone recently, only to discover that due to a design flaw the metal was fatiguing and will need to be replaced.

I could go on and on, but looking back over that list, there was a lot of taking things apart in the process of learning my lesson. I should say that all of the things have since been put back together and are working fine, with the exception of the chair which is yet to be brought to the shop.

I guess the new part of this lesson for me was the joy or sense of accomplishment in finally understanding something that I did not understand before. In each case I gained knowledge and now know just a little bit more in each case about how things work, and what cause them to not work at times.

I feel good about learning these things, most of which will do me absolutely no foreseeable good. I feel like I did something of value. Maybe that is the real lesson. Learning things, even if there is no foreseeable benefit in the future is of value in and of itself. Learning is inherently valuable.