Nature or Nurture? They Both Make You Who You Are
Nature or nurture? Turns out we're a little of both. Recently scientists decided to see if who we really are is more what's inside us or what happens to us outside in the world. Guess what? Both. As someone who is prone to pessimism, I was long ago counseled to change the way I looked at things rather than bumping my head up against things I cannot control. It took a very long time but finally I began to see that not winning a statewide writing award didn't mean I was a bad writer, just that, this particular time, people wrote articles and essays that were better than mine. Then, when it turned out I did win, I had almost forgotten about it. (I won first place.) Of course, it's not easy to look at the dark side of life and be optimistic. But I wouldn't call trying to hold on to perspective -- because that's what it is -- a bad thing. I remember in fourth grade, when my son didn't get the "star" teacher and I was convinced that his ...