Grow up because chances are you have been dumbed down

A little play on words there with the title of this post but research shows this is true.  Several decades ago Harvard University did some research on measuring the intelligence of toddlers.  They developed a whole battery of tests on different faculties such as music, math, communication, etc.  Once developed they began testing toddlers and to their surprise the vast majority of toddlers tested out at genius level across the board.  The developers of the tests thought something was wrong, so they involved Howard Gardner and the School of Behavioral Sciences to try to validate the accuracy of the results.  The consensus was the tests were valid for measuring intelligence.

The results were not what was expected, because why would a random group of toddlers test out at genius level collectively as they had (even from such close proximity to Harvard).  So the group decided to follow the test subjects as they aged and continue testing them.  Long story short was that as the group, and subsequent groups tested got older, their proficiency in the different faculties diminished.  To the extent that by age 16, less then 10% continued to test out at genius level and by age 18 it was less than 2%.  Why?

One of the research students that helped in administering the study, decided to do some research on the few subjects that continued to test out high on the tests.  What she found was a common denominator.  They were all kind of odd balls.  They dressed differently, they were a little socially different, they just didn't really "fit in" with everyone else.  And something else common amongst them was, they didn't really care about fitting in.

What is the moral of the story and study?  The majority of subjects just like the majority of the general population, adapt to the should's and norms of society, school, family and in doing so, lose access to the natural innate intelligence, creativity and wisdom that we all have access to.  The odd balls have an authenticity about them that facilitates the access to this wisdom and intelligence.

So what are we missing if we have adapted to what we think is expected in order for us to fit in? A lot, and its unique for each of us.  In my experience, being authentic allows your purpose to come through you naturally rather than efforting to make something happen.  It sounds almost counter intuitive, but if you have to struggle to create something or make something happen, the thing you are trying to create is not aligned with your purpose.  After all, we all know if you work hard, your hard work will pay off, right?  Depends what pay off you are looking for.

Everyday is an opportunity to "Grow Up" from being "Dumbed Down" by losing touch with your true self.  The morning is a great time to start the process of aligning with your true self, by just being.  Meditate, do Yoga, exercise or write to yourself.  Or just observe your thoughts on your commute to an from work or while running errands.  Take notice of how many positive or neutral thoughts you have as opposed to negative of judgmental thoughts.  If you are like most people, you will be blown away.  Think about it, if you make life choices based upon fitting in or being admired, your life is being guided by judgements of what is acceptable or desirable.  Judgments are rarely accurate or true and are fear based and lacking Love.

As you begin changing your thinking from a "fitting in" perspective to a "being true to yourself" perspective, you are moving into vulnerability.   There is a brutal honesty about being vulnerable.  As Brene' Brown has established in her work, being vulnerable is where creativity is born.  for those of us that have adapted and dumbed ourselves down, vulnerability is the doorway to our innate creativity and wisdom.  It's a process and while it scares the hell out of most people, being vulnerable is a release of all the crap we pile on ourselves by working to fit in.    Being authentic is when miracles happen because a miracle is just a change in perspective from Fear to Love.