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Original poster

Did you used to think you were really *Special

101 replies

Thesameasitwasnt · 03/10/2022 23:22

When young?

I was talking about it with Dh and he also used to feel as a child that there was something special about him and that he could do or be anything in life.
It’s hard to explain what I mean 🙈did anyone else have this?
Was it our parents installing it in us, or just the magic of youth

OP posts:
Am1beingUnreasonable · 03/10/2022 23:28

My DD currently feels like this, she’s 5. And I’m desperate for her to always believe it, I remember distinctly when that facade fell away for me at about 11 years old and it was miserable. I want her to keep that self confidence!

Ticksallboxes · 03/10/2022 23:42

Nope. I felt like a freak until I was about 50, even though my life has been pretty easy all in all.

I'm now 55 and have recently lost a parent. It's been hard but the upside is that everything has fallen into perspective now and I feel a strange, cast-iron confidence that I've never felt before.

Wbeezer · 03/10/2022 23:42

İ did, I read voraciously and had an active imagination so always felt that interesting things would happen to me as of I was a character in a story, if I'm honest there's a tiny part of me that still thinks like that, although I think I transferred the feeling of specialness onto my DC! (I mean I think they are special, not them, although DS3 seems to think highly of himself!).

StellaGibson2022 · 03/10/2022 23:45

Yes! But mine lasted well into my 30s. In hindsight I wonder if for me it was youthful resilience which alas seems to have faded now I’m late 40s.

Most definitely feeling not at all special anymore!!!

CheesyColeslaw · 04/10/2022 00:07

Nope, I felt the opposite as a child.

thunderonlyhappenswhenitsraining · 04/10/2022 00:21

Yep - I was convinced I was going to be a famous pop star Grin seriously thought I was going to be rich and famous
Haha god how different things turn out

allthegoodusernameshavegone · 04/10/2022 00:23

I still feel this at 51

Helpmewithteen · 04/10/2022 00:23

No, I felt that my cousin was special and I was made to feel that I was a failure by comparison. Not as pretty; not as talented; not as tanned; my hair didn’t curl like hers did and unsurprisingly I lacked the confidence she had.
I was about 2 when the family rivalry started and it went on until my late teens.
My mother would get very angry and frustrated with my inadequacy and would make me sunbathe and sleep in rollers, which I hated because they hurt my head.
Nope, I never felt special, must be nice though.

BarryK3nt · 04/10/2022 00:25

Yeah and I still do

Metabigot · 04/10/2022 00:25

I felt especially bad but in a special worst girl ever way.
I had psychotherapy in my 30s so I'm OK now.

thequeenoftheandals · 04/10/2022 01:36

I watched the Truman Show when it first came out (I was 10-11). I became convinced I was like Truman IRL. If I ever bumped into anyone randomly I’d be like hmm, coincidence my foot, you’ve been following me. It was a good few weeks into my grandiose, inflated & self important thinking this way, that I asked my older sister to tell me where I had left something. Afterwhich she responded how on earth do I know!? And I said, it’s okay I know about the show, just rewind the tape or ask someone who did where I put my (whatever it was). After a few not so gentle prods, I told her I thought everyone was an actor in my very own big brother style TV show.
I remember she actually wet herself Cus she laughed so much and I still remember us all just cackling on the floor, tears of laughter at how silly I had been. Unlocked a core memory. My nickname at home henceforth has been Truman. ❤️

But tbh decades later I’m still a little convinced the world does revolve around me a bit. 🤣

Smileeriley · 04/10/2022 01:49

Yes! I wanted to be be a singer, felt like I was going to be famous.

Am I bollox.

WalkthisWayUK · 04/10/2022 01:54

I had kind of the opposite. Everyone around me told me I was special, I had a talent, was intelligent, very able. But I was unconfident and hated feeling so much expectation, also no one really helped me with my talent (parents said they couldn’t afford it) and school (got sent to one far away where I was very isolated) so now I realise I did have potential but I feel rubbish that I didn’t fulfill it.

Foldinthecheese · 04/10/2022 01:58

Yes. I was reasonably clever and a good writer. I thought I would publish books or be in some way exceptional when I got older. I was an only child and my parents seemed delighted by me. I’ve had a real crisis of confidence for the last couple of years because it’s clear that I’m not at all exceptional. I stay at home with my children and facilitate their lives and my husband’s life. But things are improving. I’ve got a small writing job and I’ve found a lot of satisfaction in very challenging exercise. I know I’m not special, but I’m developing a bit more of a sense of who I am.

blueshoes · 04/10/2022 02:11

Thesameasitwasnt · 03/10/2022 23:22

When young?

I was talking about it with Dh and he also used to feel as a child that there was something special about him and that he could do or be anything in life.
It’s hard to explain what I mean 🙈did anyone else have this?
Was it our parents installing it in us, or just the magic of youth

I did feel I could be or do anything in life IF I was born a boy! But I am a girl and had to suck it up.

I did try to make up for it by striving to be independent and earn my own money so I did not have to depend on anyone. I think I got there (reasonably), but I now know I am not particularly special.

marvellousmaple · 04/10/2022 02:29

Definitely!
And having teachers say " go and do something amazing " when I left high school was nice but just makes me sad now as I didn't. They went on and on. Oh well .

Rainbows89 · 04/10/2022 03:03

When I was a kid I couldn’t imagine my future at all and thought that this meant I would be dead at 29.

bit bleak!

thankfully I am now 46 and still alive and kicking and pretty happy with how things have turned out!!

Thirdsummerofourdiscontent · 04/10/2022 03:06

Nope, never. Both my brother and I thought there was something wrong with us and no-one had told us.

Momtotwokids · 04/10/2022 03:08

I thought my daughter was so intelligent when she was a baby until I realized she was like every on kid.

FrozenGhost · 04/10/2022 03:12

No, I wish I had though, it sounds nice.

Dita73 · 04/10/2022 03:20

Definitely not. Never. Quite the opposite

VashtaNerada · 04/10/2022 04:28

I always expected to have a highly paid job and make tonnes of money. In reality I chose a completely different career path and don’t have that kind of lifestyle at all! I still feel a little bit sad that the house and the holidays I envisaged never came to pass.

LateAF · 04/10/2022 04:48

Yes I did and I still do. Everyone is special and everyone can make a significant impact on this planet. When we stop believing this we start accepting the status quo, and believing the way the world is the way it always will be.

I tell my children that they are special everyday and that they will impact lives and help change the world. That they will leave the world a better place, that they won’t stop caring about poverty or social issues because they start believing they are powerless. They are powerful, we all are- the impact we can have might be in our local communities, it might be on a national scale (I.e Marcus Rashford), or international scale (I.e. Michelle Obama), but all of us are special enough to do our part if we believe it.

Every child and adult is special. Some just don’t know it yet. I don’t think it’s a weird thing to believe or a quirk of childishness.

Rant over 🤣

LateAF · 04/10/2022 04:50

thequeenoftheandals · 04/10/2022 01:36

I watched the Truman Show when it first came out (I was 10-11). I became convinced I was like Truman IRL. If I ever bumped into anyone randomly I’d be like hmm, coincidence my foot, you’ve been following me. It was a good few weeks into my grandiose, inflated & self important thinking this way, that I asked my older sister to tell me where I had left something. Afterwhich she responded how on earth do I know!? And I said, it’s okay I know about the show, just rewind the tape or ask someone who did where I put my (whatever it was). After a few not so gentle prods, I told her I thought everyone was an actor in my very own big brother style TV show.
I remember she actually wet herself Cus she laughed so much and I still remember us all just cackling on the floor, tears of laughter at how silly I had been. Unlocked a core memory. My nickname at home henceforth has been Truman. ❤️

But tbh decades later I’m still a little convinced the world does revolve around me a bit. 🤣

😂😂😂

Treebranch · 04/10/2022 05:09

Yes! Still do even though there has been zero evidence for it over the years. Sometimes I chuckle to myself that I must seem deeply ordinary to anyone who didn't know (i.e. everyone).