Every Wednesday, I’ll post about multiple intelligences so we can better understand children and why they do what they do.
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Each of our eight intelligences has value in life and in school. The self-smart intelligence has unique value. Those with this strength are comfortable and confident with their own opinions. They think deeply inside of themselves and reflect on their ideas and what they hear and see around them. They may not highly value other people’s opinions so it’s extremely important that they remain teachable.
Do you want and even need quiet, peace, privacy, and space? This would mean you’re self smart. It also might explain a portion of the stress you feel.
- We live in a loud, hurried, crowded culture and it can be challenging to find quiet and space.
- Anger, impatience, and emotional turmoil are common for many people. Peace can be fleeting.
- Privacy is hard especially for children/teens to find. They complain to me that parents check their backpacks and dresser drawers and teachers check their lockers and desks. “Adults always want to be in our stuff!” I enjoy telling them that that’s appropriate, but I understand their stress when they’re self smart. If your children have always struggled with your “interference,” this might be why.
I want children to have their own opinions and to know why they believe what they believe. It’s important that they not be at the whim of everyone around them. If they’re not self smart, they’ll more likely just agree with friends and strangers and not necessarily live with integrity – where their ideas line up with their values. (Ideally, they’re also word and logic smart enough that they can explain and defend their opinions.)
This election season comes to mind when thinking about adults who are and who aren’t self smart. Adults who can’t form their own opinions about election issues and candidates may not be very self smart. They may also lack some logic smart strengths so they can’t reason through issues as well as others. Maybe these are new talking points you can use with friends who seem frustrated by the whole election process.
Today, I challenge you to find some peace and quiet and get in touch with your own thoughts, ideas, emotions, and opinions. What do find there?
