The Other Side of IQ [Part 1 of 2]
I have a story to tell.
One day, a young professor went sailing. On his journey, he proudly introduced himself as professor and was happily chattering away with his newly found friends. He met some farmers and sailors. The professor was relaying about his school days and how he managed to qualify for his doctorate. He was a little carried away when he boasted about his capabilities as a professor. He laughed at his fellow mates that none of them were as qualified as him. Halfway, a storm was brewing. The wind was too big to control and soon they were in trouble. The ship was sinking but the professor didn’t know how to swim. Now was the turn for all of them to laugh at him. ‘What was the use of your thick certificates, you couldn’t even swim!’ Luckily the professor admitted his silly mistake and was saved.
The sailors put the young professor on a floating log and soon they came to an island. The professor was glad that he was saved. He was grateful to them but soon he was again relaying his stories of how respected and admired he was when in his university. He had no other stories to tell. His friends continued to bear with the professor’s stories. All of them were forced to look for food on land and from sea. Soon they have caught some fish and collected some food. Poor professor, he had nothing to eat. He didn’t know how to collect food. But the farmers told him to learn to collect food by himself.
The young professor was forced to learn how to survive. The farmers in no time were planting food and the sailors became great fishermen. But since the professor never did farm before nor slept under the stars, he suffered greatly. He eventually understood the law of Nature in a hard way. He admitted that life was not exactly as what he studied from the books! Slowly he was exposed to more laws of survival and by the time they were saved, the professor was a little ‘uncivilized’ and sun burnt, but happy. He had learnt a lesson, not to be proud of his acquired IQ! Luckily he was not the second Robinson Crusoe.
From this story, all of us should come to realize that all of us are unique and experts in their own way. Practice makes perfect. We should understand what interdependence means. We should learn to feel the grand colors of life that depicts varieties and uniqueness. We are no one man on an island!
There are many self-made millionaires who never had any certificates but are rich and powerful. There were also cases of great man and women who were great inventors and lived great lives. IQ when tapped will definitely make us a better person. But sad to say, some people have grown arrogant and proud of their achievements and looked down on some people they thought inferior. IQ is not the only Q that can contribute to SUCCESS!
Some very learned have grown proud and egoist and looked down upon those who have no such certificates. I can definitely smell the pride of most of these people. Some purposely showed off their acquired knowledge and emphasized how important they were. Pride goes for a fall. Certificates no doubt are extremely useful, but there is no need to compare people down.
Let’s take a look at the other side of IQ. Read through and think twice. [to be continued...]
Lucy Wong is a health and nutrition consultant. Her interest in health related issues include the development of mental health. She has written many articles on this subject in her personal column under “alternative health” in http://ezine-articles.org Read more about mental health articles in her personal column and discover the secrets of maintaining good mental health.