A Reminder That Your Intelligence Was Never Meant To Be Hidden

You don’t answer the question, even when you know the answer. You keep quiet about your accomplishments because you don’t want your partner to feel bad. You don’t engage in a discussion, even when you’d love to take part in it because in doing so, you might exclude your partner.

You hide your intelligence and keep your smarts under wraps.

Please stop doing that.

Do not hide your intelligence, ever. It is not something to be swept under the rug. It is not something to hide. It is not something to be kept quiet, or ashamed of, or to be made small. And if you’re in a partnership with someone who makes you feel as if you have to do any of that – it’s time to find a new partner.

You are an intelligent human being. You have done things. You have accomplished things. You have achieved things. You have worked for things.

There is nothing wrong with celebrating those things.

There is nothing wrong with leaning into those things.

There is nothing wrong with being unapologetic about those things.

Do not suppress your cognitve ability to accommodate the comfort of a partner. Or a friend. Or anyone, really. Your intelligence is not something to suppress – and those who want you to suppress it are not a partner, nor are they a friend. They are merely afraid of their own ineptness. They are simply comforted by keeping you small.

Those who wish to clip your wings are afraid of how high you will soar.

But you know what? That’s not your problem, either.

The lack of confidence that someone else has in their own intelligence should never be the reason why you tamper your own – ever.

It’s ok to celebrate your intelligence.

It’s ok to lean into your intelligence.

It’s ok to be unapologetic about your intelligence.

This doesn’t mean you cannot be humble, or that you’re incapable of listening to or learning from others. It just means that you have embraced how far you’ve come – and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.

So answer the question when you know the answer. Don’t keep quiet about your accomplishments, either. Remember that it is possible to celebrate what you have achieved without making others feel bad and that you can engage in discussion without excluding others, too. The two are not mutually exclusive.

Remember that it’s ok to share and show your intelligence. Always.