Sunday, January 20, 2013

Rediscovering Myself

It's different when you look back at your childhood as an adult. I lived through it, obviously, but I feel so removed from it now. I have been reading so much information on gifted children and it gives me this weird flashback feeling, as if  someone was watching me and writing these things. Then, I immediately feel as conceited as that sounds. Am I really as intelligent as I think I am? When I see my childhood self, I can see that I was clearly gifted. However, I often don't feel that way anymore. I suppose it's all a matter of perception. Everybody tells me how impressed they are by things I do, but I feel they're just giving me lip service. My expectations are so lofty, but I still feel like I should be able to accomplish them.

I look at myself and I wonder sometimes, why aren't I some uppity asshole in a gifted forum who likes to virtually run around trying to dominate everybody else with my superior vocabulary? Some people seem to think that's what 'gifted' is. I rarely read anymore, which makes me sad. It also  makes me feel like I'm not entitled to say I'm intelligent. What happened to the days of pouring over encyclopedias and college textbooks for 'fun'? Oh right. I have a kid (plus half of one), a business, a husband and a home. Those things take time, even for a gifted person.

But, I need to stop and recognize who I am. It's who I've always been. Just because I'm not some holier than thou scholar doesn't mean I've somehow lost my worth. I remember a therapist told me once, "Even if you do nothing but sit on that couch, you have value." I try to remember this when I feel like I can't live up to my own standards.

I had a point when I started this post, but I lost it somewhere between the third and fourth time my toddler required my attention. Until next time.

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