I've had time to ponder

 ...that seldom bodes well

Who or what makes us who we are?

There are countless theses on this and who only knows how many hours researchers, doctors and professionals have pondered this.

Inheritance and Environment is what makes us who we are.

Or, so we are told.

I always figured 'Choice' was a part of this picture. We praise ourselves - the us that comes from free democratic countries with countless opportunities and choices - of having freedom of speech, press, beliefs, of having free will. We talk a lot about the importance of multiple alternatives to choose from. Yet, the main ingredients of the recipe that is 'Me' is who my parents were and the environment I grew up in.

I sometimes say that Life is a deck of cards and everyone is dealt a hand. These are the cards you're given. It is up to you to make the best of it. What you do with your hand and how you play it, comes down to the choices you make.

Some people are brilliant players. They'll sit there with a hand of twos and threes and still manage to end up winning the game with a Royal Flush. How? By bluffing, of course.

Some are given a house from get-go, but end up losing the game to a player with a pair of fives. They're honest and trustworthy, good people.

Life is like that. I think. Some poeple start out with a silver spoon in their mouths, but end up as bitter has-beens drowning in drugs and alcohol, while bitching about how unfair everything is.

Some start out as a deformed wreck, all odds against them, but not only do they make it, they make it with integrity and style (Hawkins)

We are full of awe and admiration for those who make it against all odds. We can easily perceive the hardship, the tough choices, the self discipline needed to get where they are today.

We have little or no sympathy for those who fail.

"Tsk! They had it all and just threw it away. Serves the bastards well, it does!"

Even those who didn't really stand a chance, but went for it all the same, gets little sympathy. Apparently THEY had the chance, but threw it away. Imagine the guts it takes to go for it? We do think about that at times. We pity! them...

So, unless I'm wrong. Who and What you are largely comes down to Inheritance and Environment, while Where you are (On the ladder of success) comes down to the choices you make, Since the choices we make largely comes down to Who and What we are....

Confused much? Aye, welcome to my brain.

I'm not smoking, but my mind is not a safe place right now.

PS! I'm going to make a no-spend-blogpost one of these days, I haven't forgotten, just trying to focus on one thing long enough to make sense out of it. When I do, I'll get it up