Is the cure for uncertainty, certainty or understanding?
With so much uncertainty at the moment. I’m sure we’d all love the answer to be a certainty. But the reality is it may be way too much to ask. So perhaps we should aim for understanding instead.
Since posting on Monday, I had an interesting debate on LinkedIn about the value of less tangible things like peace of mind. It got me thinking about my own personal experience with such things.
For those of you that have met me, you’ve probably noticed that my hands shake, sometimes resulting in spilled drinks due to me being overly self conscious about it. People have either assumed that I was nervous or had Parkinson’s disease.
Whilst sometimes option 1 does contribute, fortunately, option 2 is not the case.
For about 25 years, I was uncertain of the cause, but eventually partly so I knew and partly so I could give a good answer when people asked, I went and saw a doctor and had some tests.
It turns out it’s something called an essential tremor. I don’t find it very essential, but that’s what it is. The treatment is brain surgery or heart medication which I haven’t had due to the seriousness or side effects. I can certainly live with it. I’ve made it 40 years already.
I don’t know whether it will get worse in the future, whether it will affect my work.
It’s all still a bit up in the air and uncertain. I do it least understand it better. I know it’s not Parkinson’s disease and as a result, I’m not fearing the worst.
Despite not having certainty, I take some peace of mind from knowing what it is, or more importantly, what it isn’t, and what the potential outcomes of the future may bring.
Relating this to finances. I can’t guarantee bad things won’t happen. No one anticipated the Coronavirus, for example. But we can give you the tools to get through it, educate you so you understand it better and be there if you need a chat.
Hopefully that means we continue making smart decisions and you maintain or continue to work towards your financial freedom.
