This is so inspiring. Thank you!

I’ve never posted here before, but this is the second post of yours that I’ve linked to on my site, and I just wanted to thank you for sharing it — I took one of those headfirst, balls-out, big-picture-changing leaps almost exactly one year ago today, and had a similarly life-affirming experience. I left the job and relationship that I knew weren’t right for me, thrust myself into complete financial instability, made a complete change in terms of career, met the girl of my dreams, got the job of my dreams and took the trip of my dreams. It’s been a pretty good year.

Never again will I go through the motions or allow my life to be shaped mostly by factors outside my control, and neither, it seems, will you. I’m glad for your success.

I’m in the middle of my “leap of faith” now. After a long time of being single, I got married again. I left my job. I left my friends. I moved halfway across the country to be with a man I truly love. (He’s in the navy. He doesn’t have a choice where he lives.) I’m also pregnant. I always wanted a family. It’s been my dream for many years. I’ve finally got my chance.

The stable person probably would have waited to find a job, but I decided that I had deferred my dream long enough. I’m thirty-five. I couldn’t wait much longer. I’m still looking for a job. Thankfully, my years of hard work have really paid off. I had whittled my expenses down so much that I’ve been able to pay my few bills with savings. He takes care of the household bills. I just pay the bills with my name on them. I’ve got some time before I’m desperate for a job. Plus, they’re so low that it doesn’t matter what job I get, but that I get a job. The great thing is that my stable moment four years ago and all the hard work that followed is now paying for this chance. I have faith that it will work out. I worked hard to make sure that I could have that faith. I’m waiting to see if I make it to the other side. It’s going to be interesting to see what the universe has in store for me.

I got laid off in 2003 from a job, and I too think that it was a good thing for me, in the balance. It took me a fair bit longer to find a job to replace it, but from my time off I learned a bit more about how badly I was maintaining my programming skills, having let the technology pass me somewhat. I caught up on the tech, learned to deal a little better with my emotions, and since then I think I’ve had a much better career.

Also, as it happens, Athena is left-handed.

I hoped so. She really is off to a great start.

Patrick M – As someone else pointed out IQ (intelligence quotient) means Intellectual Age/Actual age, so by definition it is age adjusted.

I have the normal skepticisms about IQ voiced here, but my specific skepticism about IQs measured at the first grade is that so much of one’s abilities at that time rely on one’s environment. I know they say IQ doesn’t vary much, but I think it is possible that early IQ may be lowered if one is not in an optimal environment but there is some catching up that can occur later. And yes, I know about critical skills that must be learned during certain times or it is too late. I’m not talking about that.

Also I think providing the optimal environment is like giving vitamins. Too little and one may suffer. Too much and one does not become superhuman. Indeed, one may also suffer.

I am so glad that B. Durbin pointed out that intelligence may be directed towards learning social skills. A common myth is that skill is a finite resource and when one has, say, a great skill at one thing all the other skills must suffer. This makes us feel better (NERDS!) but it is not really true.

So what are the challenges for “gifted” children? I have a few gifted offspring of my own growing up now and I went through much of the same myself. Like Athena I am also left-handed and the oldest, but not an only child.

Probably the biggest challenge is learning patience. John himself knows how I struggle with that to this day. Another challenge is getting along with others without stifling your own abilities. This is especially difficult during junior high. Outsiders are shunned and jealousy runs high. My personal solution was humor. I learned to make my friends laugh and was accepted for that. Luckily I also had a growth spurt in early high school and could do well at sports. As long as a kid has sport’s skills the brains are okay too. Without the sport’s skills – not so much. It shouldn’t be that way but it is.

Thanks for the response. From how you have written about yourself and your wife in the past, I kind of figured that you had thought through the risk and decided that the risk was acceptable, but I was interested in seeing what your response was all the same.

I just wish my sister thought through her decision(s) a bit more…but that’s another Oprah.