If you’ve heard Dr. Kathy speak or have read her How Am I Smart? book, you know that
every human being is smart in at least eight different ways. You know that a
few of the eight smarts stand out as your top strengths and that the same is
true of every other person, with the combination of “top smarts” varying from
individual to individual. You know each smart can be awakened…or paralyzed. You
remember that you – or your child – can, when necessary, learn to pull up and
utilize a smart that isn’t a top strength. And you understand that we must each
be smart with our smarts.
But did you know that many of those same truths apply to
the 12 genius qualities? Yes, each and every person possesses some measure of
each genius trait. As adults, we probably each favor just a few in our daily
lives, perhaps because some of the others have been squelched in some way. But
it’s possible to increase the expression of the all the traits in our lives –
and in the lives of our children – and to use them for good purposes each
and every day.
Kathy and I will write about the genius qualities for the
next few months, addressing one trait in each of the next 12 issues of this
newsletter. We’ll define and discuss each quality in turn and hope to inspire
you to make room for them all within yourself and in the lives of the children
you influence. I’m very excited about that prospect because, just as I know far
too many folks who’ve bought the lie that they’re not “smart,” so, too, I see
almost every day how we deny or minimize the genius qualities in ourselves and
in our kids. That’s a tragic moral crime, in my opinion.
So if I can do anything over the next few months to help
you identify the traits within yourself and in your kids and to encourage you
to stop shutting them down and start growing them, I will have been richly
rewarded. Please don’t doubt your God-given genius or whether your kids have
it; give us some time to make our case.
And in the meantime, remember Thomas Edison, who was
basically expelled from elementary
school when the teacher told his mother he was “retarded” and unteachable. I
don’t know what happened in that school, but we all know Thomas was obviously a
bona fide genius. So, obviously, his
parents did something to awaken and inspire his genius qualities. And if that
was possible for Thomas – someone who’d nearly had his genius snuffed out –
it’s possible for you and your kids, too.
*****
Photo Credit: Ben McLeod
CK
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