Arguments over nature vs nurture is an ongoing psychological debate. All I know is that for better or worse, each plays a significant part in the life experience. To reach our potential, our best bet lies in considering both. One is fixed, the other is flexible, but it’s what we do with what we know that makes all the difference.
Nature
“Nature” is the sum of our DNA. The intricacies of our unique genetic sequence impact our health and potentially predispose us to certain personality traits, illness, and other conditions. The thing is, you can’t rewrite the sequence you we were born with. You can alter the environments to significantly impact which qualities are nurtured and which are choked off at the valve. Our DNA is a launchpad for wherever we want to steer ourselves.
Nurture
Through “nurture,” we have the power to groom, protect, and steer ourselves in ways of our own choosing. Our environment, past, present, and future, hold substantial influence over our ever-evolving behaviors. Accept the things you cannot change and muster the courage to harness the things that you can. The ways that we nurture ourselves start within us, at home, however, external factors almost always weasel their way in. To improve the way that we care for ourselves, we first need to assess the environment that already exists around us.
Be A Product of Both
Overall, I don’t believe it’s a matter of nature vs nurture. It’s the combo that matters most. All of this white-noise is simply the figment of other peoples imaginations. The degree to which we drink this up and adapt it as our own thoughts and beliefs is a matter of personal choice. Learn to hone and express your innate creativity. Work with your nature, and the way that you nurture it to increase your ability to cope with life in joy. Make more time for information, outlets, and activities that have the best ability to focus your mental and emotional energies where you want them. Let it be a partnership of both, on your own terms. Focus on strengthening the synergy between them. Do this until nothing but light & love pour out of you. Ultimately, soak that relationship up and into every aspect of your life.
THINK: Was it your nature or your nurturing that delivered you here, to this particular place? What now? Reflect on that.