Elephant Journal: If you Quit Smoking you are Very Intelligent

If you Quit Smoking you are Very Intelligent

I read a research article the other day stating that hot baths could take the place of exercise.

It is true a hot bath burns calories, and lowers blood pressure, it helps with inflammation and overall improves your mood. But in the case of a Zombie apocalypse it will not improve your odds of running away from impending doom.

Before laughing my way through the article, I found myself leaning into another research piece that confirmed what I believed to be true about myself all along, that my messy office, obnoxious and profane language plus my late-night antics were all clues to my high IQ and intellect.

Now to be fair and transparent, I have never had my IQ tested, nor was I in the Gifted and Talented programs in school. But if this article was willing to point out that because I am messy it means there is a creative, out of the box genius living inside of me and that I could now use this as an excuse to tell my husband, “I am messy because I am brilliant!” then I was willing to accept it as fact.

Also, the next time someone asks me to stop swearing and using the “F” word as my 7, year old daughter calls it, I can now refer to the research by, Kristin and Timothy Jay, some liberal arts psychologists who co-wrote the study and said something to the effect of, swearing = positive verbal fluency. Never mind that, that same research study also showed that most people believe that those who use swear words are dumb!

In a separate and unrelated study, from the University of Rochester found that intelligent people tend to use all of their words, including the expansive and colorful language we call profane.

The bottom line and point of all of this is. If you want to believe something about yourself, someone, somewhere has likely proved you are going to be ok.

Like, if you quit smoking you are very intelligent…. One might suggest this one is a complete, DUH. It says by the Surgeon General on the packaging of all cigarettes. And, if you quit smoking it is likely you will avoid the pitfalls of smelling like a cigarette, not being able to breathe while climbing stairs and of course you might get out of getting lung cancer, all of which make you smart-er.

Here is the truth. We read these articles because we are looking for validation of our own unique greatness. These studies make us feel seen, and that maybe we aren’t all that crazy or different after all.

So, let me say this to you...

You are intelligent regardless of some study. You are creative and able to make both good and bad choices for yourself regardless of some article.

If you are looking for Validation of your greatness, or to assure yourself that you are not bad or wrong in what appears to others as a bad habit let this be the article you pin to Facebook,

You are undoubtedly, without question or curiosity, fantastic.

Today, YOU ARE ENOUGH, and you do not need a research specialist to prove it.

— Originally Published December 4, 2019 on Elephant Journal