For The Mind That Once Was.

There is a proven science to intelligence, a proven way to build and sustain intelligence, things to refrain from and a general way to keep it on the cutting-edge.

You may have read of the fictional character of Sherlock Holmes and his brother, Mycroft created by Arthur Conan Doyle in what I believe to be his most distinguished work, seen their amazing deductive powers and ability to retain information.

Art in the blood is liable to take the strangest forms” is a Sherlock Holmes quote from “The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter”. It was the response of the detective to a query from his doctor friend, John Watson about the possibility of the intelligence having being handed down by family heritage, seeing as his grandmother was a sister of Vernet, the French artist.

Perhaps you earned your intelligence by being the child of intelligent and brilliant parents, or you were the white lamb amidst black lambs.

Maybe. Maybe not.

Geneticists know that cognitive ability is influenced by both genetic factors and environmental factors.

For you that once were the brightest or one of the brightest stars to ever grace the galaxy of your school, who now find yourself struggling at some later point in school or in life, this is for you.

You don’t understand why it’s happening, your family that hinged their prison break from the trenches on your smartness can’t understand it and nobody else seems to.

Not to worry, friend, you’re in good company.

You’re not alone, but we’re not here to form a support group that mopes and wishes for things to be better.

For the mind that once was and sadly may never be. This is not to despair, but to show you there is more to the amazing mind that you possess than you know. The intelligence of the child and some educational systems is tested mostly on the ability to retain. That is a laudable feat, nonetheless, but there is more to it.

As you grow, the arguments for nature begin to lose their grip. This is despite the fact that nature probably accounts for most of the well-worn tracks in your mind and the neural pathways in your brain.

At this point, you are required to wield the force of nurturing to rebuild your mind. It is not easy; it is a sweaty and grueling job to rewire your mind back to the way it should be.

Like I said at the start, there is a science to the building and sustenance of intelligence, irrespective of your age. As a child, you have thrived on the art form of it, propelled by impulses, able to skim through your books or have perfect recall of classes and yet excel. However, the world is built on the schematics of hard science.

Art is great for wonder, rapture, exhilaration and release of dopamine, but the world is held up by rote activities of proven theories and laws.

As a child, nature was more in force and you literally went with the tide, but if you follow that tide alone, it is wont to lead you to a rocky place and mar your trust.

As an adult, you are the captain of the ship, required to navigate tides, plug leaks, bowl out seawater and keep your ship afloat.

That is the difference between the man who has resigned himself to fate, thinking life has dealt him a harsh one and the mind that decides to forge his own path, hardcoding and embedding the data every step of the way.

Lethargy is the easier path; many choose it and soon disappear within themselves. They become terrible company, unable to hold or give joy, withdrawn from friends and family, having buried their talents in the soil of life’s inevitable pain and excuses.

I ask you today to awake from within. Unlike the body, the mind only takes on the age which you give it.

So awake my friends, awake.