Hi lovebug,

When I was growing up, I was put into talented and gifted programs from as early as elementary school.

I remember feeling excited that I got to do extracurricular activities that challenged me in a new way. I loved being able to use my creativity to solve problems. I liked the other talented and gifted kids too.

It could be a bit stressful and high pressure, but I was grateful I wasn’t bored. 

Fast forward to about ten years ago and I was talking with an energy worker colleague of mine.

She told me that she’d read something about kids who were identified as talented and gifted when they were young having particular struggles as adults. 

“Really?” I said, raising my eyebrows.

She said that since we were often rewarded for being able to do things easily as children that there were certain skills we hadn’t developed.

For example, when you grasp a concept quickly as a kid, you may start to get pretty black and white about your abilities as an adult. 

You may think that if you don’t master a skill or a topic immediately then you label yourself as “not good at that thing” instead of just needing to stick with it and learn over time.

If you were able to do your schoolwork fairly easily on your own in elementary school, then when projects or assignments grew more difficult in high school, college or as an adult, you might find yourself freezing up, not ever having been taught how to break a project down and complete it in steps. 

If you often worked independently as a child and never needed assistance or support, you could develop the habit of never asking for help or you could start drawing conclusions about yourself as being weak or unintelligent if you did need something.

I’m not trying to say that talented and gifted kids had it tougher than other kids — no. 

What I’m saying is that if you were talented and gifted as a child and you find yourself procrastinating, feeling overwhelmed by long and complex projects, or find that you give up on a new skill without giving yourself enough time to learn, there’s nothing wrong with you.

You may have leapfrogged over some important life skills as a child while your mind was being challenged with other activities. 

Why do I bring this up? 

Well, I think when we’re labeled with a moniker like “talented and gifted,” it can send the message to our subconscious that we’re supposed to know how to do everything right off the bat, that we’re supposed to get it right the first time (every time), that we’re on our own to figure life out and if we don’t figure it out, there’s something wrong with us.

We can take those beliefs and paint all of our experiences with the same brush and that can be excruciating and demoralizing.

It can keep us from experiencing deep joy, from trying new hobbies, from expressing our creativity, from taking risks at work… it can show up EV-ERY-WHERE.

The truth is that there is absolutely nothing wrong with us.

We are not perfect. We are human. 

Do we have flaws? Hell yes.

Do we have assets? Absolutely, yes.

Are we lovable? 100% yes. 

Are there more ways for us to learn and grow and transform? Also, yes. 

If you’re thinking, “My gosh. I’ve been really hard on myself because of something I went through thirty, forty or fifty years ago?!” — you’re not alone.

That’s at the crux of all the emotional healing work that I do.

Whatever we’re working through today usually has its roots in the past. 

That’s why folks who do deep Emotion Code® work can make HUGE strides in a year or less where it takes upwards of five years or more with other methods.

If you’re interested in fast-tracking your growth, please don’t wait years to do things differently. 

Sign up to chat with me and we’ll see about the best path forward for you. 🙂

Rebecca*