What Exactly Is the Point of My Life?

Part 3 of Gifted Baby Boomers, How They Were Raised, and What Was on Their Minds as They Raised You

As we discussed and saw in Part 2, Understanding Viewpoints Based on Dabrowski Levels — Inner Growth in Gifted Adults, the viewpoints of those who raised you, as well as the zeitgeist of the time you were born and raised, all impact how much you will wonder who you are and continue to struggle with those big life questions most of of us have at one point or another in our lives. Being highly intelligent (sometimes known as gifted) doesn’t necessarily help you to figure “it” out any more quickly than others … and knowing you’re smart can often contribute to your shame over “what’s wrong” with you. Like, “Why am I depressed?” “Why aren’t I more successful?” “And do people not like me because I’m too smart or because I’m not likeable in general?”

The remaining excerpts all come from among the nine subjects from my 1998 case studies for my doctoral dissertation, Environmental, Familial, and Personal Factors that Affect the Self-actualization of Highly Gifted Adults: Case Studies, who clearly were among those of the 41 study subjects who struggled with inner growth and the advanced levels of emotional development described by Dabrowski (1964). All the gifted adults who sought counseling took an…