What is Normal? What is Gifted?

I don't think it is entirely realistically possible to speak about what is normal or what is gifted simply because people generally are not forthcoming about this subject and because there are so many points of view about it stemming from religious and cultural prejudices for thousands of years. So, given this, speaking or even writing about what is normal or gifted will be very different from person to person and culture to culture around the world. And the more materialistic the culture, the less likely it is polite to speak about any of this unless you are with a very select group of people who might be studying this in college. For example, a History of Religion Master's or Doctoral Program at a State University not associated with any specific religion, or a group of friends in college or after who are exploring what is possible for humans in general both now and into the future.

For example, as a baby and young child at first I just believed that everyone was telepathic and could hear each others thoughts. By age 5 I had been horrified to realize this was not a universal experience and was somewhat traumatized by the realization that in many circles I would have to not speak about my abilities even though my mother and grandmother were gifted in some ways like me and though my father was too, he was from a culture that preferred not to speak in public about such things for the most part.

So, for me, personally, the most difficult times were 3 to 5 years of age, 10 to 15 years of age and then 18 to 25 years of age. During each of these periods trying to survive and to find ways to stay alive and wanting to stay alive was difficult. So, I guess in some ways the world is not ready for gifted people. So, no matter what your gifts are: Intelligence, intuitive genius, athletic ability, whatever, sometimes one must be very careful especially around others who might be jealous or who might not understand what it actually means to be exceptional in one or more ways. So, most of the time it is not necessarily in one's best interests to draw too much attention to oneself because all sorts of problems can arise once you do.

For example, just look at what often happens to really gifted people like Whitney Houston, or Linsay Lohan or Britney Spears or even Heath Ledger. Luckily, so far at least, Linsay Lohan and Britney Spears are still with us. So, being in the public eye and gifted can sometimes just mean an early demise. So, balance in one's life is a goal worth obtaining if one wants to be relatively happy and live a long life. So, how does one attain that? And what would it look like?

So then, just becoming famous and rich is just a death sentence for many gifted people who cannot handle it long term. There is a famous saying that covers this idea, "Be careful what you wish for. You may get it!"

So, though you might be able to do almost anything with whatever your gifts are, maybe the more important concept is: What can you live with? In other words, "If you can't live with what you do then you won't!" 

When one is gifted in various ways almost anything might be possible in one's life. But is it both useful and wise? Because if it isn't likely it will just unravel your life and leave you dead or dying.

So, What is normal and what is Gifted? It is all relative in the end. A more important question might be: "Can you live with the consequences of using your gifts publicly?" If the answer is "Yes" then maybe it would be good for you to proceed but if the answer is "NO" then maybe you might want to redesign your life in some other good and useful way.