Which is it - the genetics and pre-dispositions put into us before we are born, or the very house and parents that determine our lives; our personalities, success, happiness? I used to really believe it was nature; be sure to check the horse's teeth before you buy it and all that stuff. There was a boy in my hometown I really liked and wanted to date, but mom squelched that before it ever got a chance because he came from "bad seed."
I had an email from my sister today, which I read over and over again. Our lives, while having grown up in the same house with the same parents, could not be farther apart. It is like reading something from someone I don't even know - how did her life get where it is? Maybe my life was intended to go in that direction also, but God blessed me with Andrew and His church, and I am the one who changed. Whatever it is, I am eternally greatful.
Each day, as my students come and go from my room, I think about their lives, and where they will end up. Some truly were born with disabilities, and some were just born in a home that did not know how to foster them to their highest potential. Where one stops and the other starts is a mystery. I guess the answer is to make the most of what life offers us.
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3 comments:
The great debate!
Nature vs Nurture
With four children I see so many qualities that are one of mine or Lee's in each of the children yet....there is also, something of their environment in them that has nothing to do with me or to each other. Something that has come from their situations, experiences in life.
It reminds me of the child's shirt "Be patient with me,
God is not finished with me yet."
Even now at 54 I realize that the person I am today has evolved from the person I was.
I notice the evolving of myself as well based a lot on my environment. I believe that it isn't one or the other. God gives us the genetics to make us who we are THROUGH our environment. It is a combination of both. We couldn't be who we are without both sides of that coin. If we had different genetics with the same environment we'd be different and vice versa. Just my thoughts though...
yes.
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