April,

it could have been me writing the words you started this thread with! (Ok,I am not a mom, but a dad with two nearly grown up daughters.)
To be honest, I am still far from having THE answer to my questions, but one day I stumbled across a few ideas I read in the books mentioned below. That brought so much relief !

Some people are so gifted that it nearly hurts (as it does for you). The giftedness itself is not the problem, rather the thoughts, urges and feelings arising from that. Guilt, disorientation, frustration and so on. Accepting that I am hard-wired in this particular way and discovering the huge potential of that helps me starting to be grateful. I know so many people complaining they have no gifts at all (which is never true).

Even it is frustrating to find myself constantly skipping from one activity to the next before I really got into the previous one, I constantly (and unconsciously) acquire knowledge and skills that allow connecting them in ways nobody else is able to. For example, I can bring creativity and communication skills into my engineer job or use my technical experience for my creative hobbies like drawing or making music. Your wide horizon allows you to easily connect to many people regardless of their background. You apply your gifts without realising ist. I’m afraid this is a poor attempt to get the idea across, but I strongly encourage you to have a look into the books.

Guilt: I don’t know the religious background you come from, but reading your words it would not surprise me it was a christian one. It makes me mad how the words of Jesus are often misused by his believers. God is so much larger than many of the pale and narrow-minded believers claiming they know the truth. Their words often say more about themselves than about Jesus. Get in touch with the word itself, not what others tell you it says.

Wolfgang

The Renaissance Soul: How to Make Your Passions Your Life, by Margaret Lobenstine
I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was: How to Discover What You Really Want and How to Get It, by Barbara Sher