How do I convince you that you are, in fact, gifted? (Yes, today we are using the G word.)
Well. I hear giftedness in your voice, as you talk quickly, intensely, and passionately. I see it in your drive for understanding and creativity and in your explorations of the intricacies of, oh, everything. I feel it in your aching for depth and connection in all of your relationships, in your extreme empathy, and in your unyielding desire to create a better world. I know it because, well, after 35+ years hanging out with gifted types, I just know it.

But you may not see it in yourself. And you wonder why. I mean, if you were so smart wouldn’t you recognize it in yourself? Wouldn’t you know who you are and where you are going? Surely, gifted folks are not full of self-doubt and swimming in self-criticism. Surely, the smartest people are all arrogant know-it-alls who graduated from Stanford with a PhD and are now doing their post-docs at MIT in artificial intelligence, astrophysics, and nanotechnologies. On full scholarship. And they don’t have to study. At all.
And you? You were the kid who purposely got lower grades on tests so the others would not bully you. You were the kid who could not show your work because your answers were intuitive. You were the kid who was kind to the children who were left out. You were the kid who was stumped by multiple choice questions because you over-analyzed them. You were the kid who lost track of what the teacher was saying because your imagination was more fascinating. You were the kid who was anxious in school when the tests were timed so you never finished them. You were the kid who took time to answer a question so the teacher thought you did not know the answer or you blurted out the answers so often you were told to wait and wait and wait. You were the kid who protected your siblings from your alcoholic parent. You were the kid who read the dictionary for fun. You were the kid who was curious and enthusiastic about life, the universe, and everything. You were the kid who did the homework and then lost it. You were the kid who ruminated about infinity, fractals, and why humans are cruel to each other. You were the kid who created unusual inventions, wrote long convoluted stories and poetry, and rescued neighborhood animals.
You were the kid who was gifted.
You still are.
I just know it.
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To my bloggEEs: Tell us why you still do not believe you are gifted or why you are uncomfortable with the ‘g’ word. Have you come to understand that it may be true? What are the benefits of knowing? What are your challenges? Do you know there is a film being made with that title? The G Word? Check it out and contribute if you can.
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