I have struggled to write this post. I have started and restarted, deleted and backspaced more times than I care to count. Maybe this is because I’ve procrastinated (as usual) and am writing this after a long day, at a time when I’d rather be asleep in my bed. Maybe this is because my brain has felt out of words for the past 2 hours. More likely, it’s because I have too many ideas. I haven’t been able to choose just one difficulty about being gifted. I really don’t think I’m that pessimistic or cynical, but oftentimes, there feel to be far more difficulties about being gifted than not. I remember being a young child and wishing I could just shut my brain off. I remember being a young woman and wishing I didn’t have so many options in front of me. I’ve been an adult and wished to be ignorant. Being gifted is complicated and complicated comes with difficulty. I long for simple. Except when I don’t. So – in lieu of being able to pick just one difficulty about being gifted, I’ve opted to create a list. And because my brain simultaneously wants simplicity and challenge – I’m creating my list as an acrostic poem:
Turning off your mind is impossible
Having so many interests and things you want to pursue can be daunting and overwhelming
Expectations that are set by others can be daunting and overwhelming
So few people actually understand what giftedness entails
Understanding things the first time and having to hear it explained seven more times anyway
Chewing sounds are magnified and disgusting
Kids don’t like the smartest kid in class
Intense living
Noticing everything is exhausting
Explaining how you got your answer when you can’t explain it to yourself – you simply knew it
Sitting through meetings
Stumbling upon like-minded, similarly wired individuals is a rarity
Over-thinking, over-analyzing, over-planning everything
Finding creative, intellectual outlets is necessary and not always prioritized
Bullies like to pick on the smart kid
Emotions are HUGE
Inefficiency can be infuriating
Never meeting one’s own desire for perfection
Giftedness does NOT = high achieving, but everyone thinks it does
Growing up is wildly asynchronistic
Idealism
Finding the balance of being challenged enough, but not overwhelmed, is a constant struggle
Thinking the big thoughts and asking the big questions isn’t always welcomed
Empathy can be awesome and totally draining
Daughters and sons tend to be gifted, too.
This post is a part of Gifted Homeschooler's Forum March Bloghop: The Difficulties of Being Gifted. Be sure to check out the other great articles!