my daughter Julie controls the ball

Occasionally, I like to watch soccer on TV. I’m not a huge sports fan, but if you’re sitting on the sidelines of a soccer game 6 nights out of 7 (which we seem to do every Spring – and nearly every season, for that matter - with 3 daughters who love the sport), why not turn on a soccer game on the 7th night too?  It’s addictive.

Soccer is an amazing sport, when it’s played well (or even when it’s played with heart by 7, 12 or 13 year old girls).  The calisthenics those players go through – well, it’s practically like watching a ballet!

Even though I’m not a big sports fan, there’s something about watching a highly skilled person do what they do best that almost reduces me to tears because of the sheer beauty of it.  It’s the same thing for other disciplines – music, painting, cooking, carpentry, public-speaking, writing – you name it.  To see someone find their niche, embrace it, and then polish their skills through years of practice and sometimes agony, is magnificent and awe-inspiring (even if it’s not at the world-class level).

Several years ago, when I was a fairly new mom and I came to the realization early on that each child came with a different blueprint and each blueprint would take years to decipher, I bought an invaluable book called 7 Kinds of Smart: Identifying and Developing your Multiple Intelligences by Dr. Howard Gardner.  In it I found both relief and inspiration.  I found out that, even if one of my daughters didn’t naturally do as well in school as the other one, she could still be defined as “smart”.  Her definition of smart would just have to come from one of the other intelligences rather than her school work.

According to Dr. Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences, the seven kinds of smart are: linguistic, musical, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal (the ability to understand others) and intrapersonal (the ability to understand oneself).  Since my copy of the book was published, he’s also added “naturalist” and “existential”.

Especially when we’re in school, there is a tendency to rate people according to their academic achievement.  When our children come home with their test scores or report cards, for example, it’s hard to resist asking how the others in the class did.  When we perform poorly in a test, we berate ourselves for not being as smart as the person next to us.

What I appreciate about the concept of multiple intelligences is that all kinds of smart are placed on equal playing fields.  Your son may be a soccer star, but he might do poorly in math.  Still smart.  Perhaps you’re musically gifted, but couldn’t kick a soccer ball if it was the size of a small garage.  Smart.  Still others might be intuitive when it comes to relationships, or words, or craftsmanship. Smart, smart, smart.

I have a pretty good idea which kinds of smart I am, but here’s a test I found that helps identify them. (It’s far from a foolproof test, but it’s fun none-the-less.)  No big surprise – I came out with linguistic, bodily-kinesthetic (not as in “athletic” but more like “craftsmanship”), interpersonal and intrapersonal as my top ones (though the wording on each test seems to be slightly different).  I’m pretty low on musical, logical-mathematical, and spatial.

I’m still learning about my children and I don’t want to stick too many labels on them this early in their lives, but I can definitely see that they shine in different areas.  The same holds true for the teams of adults I’ve lead. Our roles as parents, leaders, friends, mentors, and supportive community members is to value each kind of smart in each other and in ourselves.

What about you? What kind of smart are you? How do you see multiple intelligences reflected in the people around you and yourself?

In the course of the coming week, pay attention to the simple things that come easily to you. Can you hop over a puddle like you have wings on your feet? Can you craft a well-worded email in seconds flat? Do you recognize every tune on the radio within the first three seconds? Do you have an intuitive sense of how people will respond to the things you say?

Consider these little things as road signs pointing the way to your own “kind of smart”. Don’t just brush them aside with an “aw, but it’s nothing – EVERYONE can do that.”  The truth is, not everyone can. Watch the person behind you stumble over the same puddle or agonize over an email for half an hour – it’s a good chance they have other gifts and intelligences than you do.

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