Contemplating Intelligence

This week my husband's aunt was telling us about a baby who was slow to develop.  My husband said, "watch him turn out to be a genius".  I said, "I hope not". This led me to think more about how much some people value a high IQ,  advanced degrees, etc.  I happened to marry someone who is very intelligent and has an advanced degree.  Is that why I fell in love with him?  I don't think so but maybe it played a small part in it.  It's possible I fell for him in spite of how smart he is.  It's hard for me to say 22 years later.

I doubt anyone has ever thought of me as a brilliant mind and that's okay.  Most of the people I admire most are positive people.......... curious, fun, humble, energetic, sensitive and happy people.  Having a high IQ is a gift, something you're lucky to be born with (maybe).  It's not something you earned so does it make you special?  Maybe it does and maybe it doesn't.  I don't think it's your intelligence that makes you special.  I think it's what you do with what you're given that makes you someone to be admired.  I've met plenty of gifted people who I'd rather not hang out with.  Humble they were not.  Maybe it's sour grapes on my part but I don't think so.

Yesterday we went to the funeral of a 69 year old woman who was outlived by her 96 year old mother.  We talked to the mother after the funeral and she told us how much she was going to miss her daughter.  Even though she was very sad she still had a smile for us.  She is blind and now uses a wheelchair because of a fall she had earlier this year.  In spite of all this she just keeps on going.  I think this lady is one of the neatest people.  I know nothing about her education, very little about her background  or what she was like as a young person.  What I do know about her is that she is strong, funny, positive and absolutely someone I would like to spend more time with. 

Our son is in college now and struggles at times with his grades.  My wish for him is not that he graduate in the top of his class, but that he graduates with a feeling of accomplishment in what he's set out to do, that he enjoys these years in school and makes some lasting friendships or at least has great memories of friends he made while he was there.  I hope his future brings many successes in the way of happiness, satisfaction and a sense of well being, and I hope when he's 96 his tattoo on his back, "NO REGRETS", is even more meaningful to him than it may be now.