A few weeks before our little one was born, dear wife over some argument, pointed out about how I behaved at times, and how she would bring up the little one on the way, to be otherwise. In a rare moment of utmost clarity, I retorted, "Well, whether you like it or not, she is going to be the sum of all of us". Three weeks on, we are beginning to realize how true most of that statement, however innocent, is.
It is amazing that what we beleive as a clean slate is really not! She has her mom's eyes, her aunts cheek bones, and the list goes on. Funny, its not just about physical attirbutes. Even the way she sleeps or the way she furrows her brow, can be attirbuted to some one or the other, depending on how strong your memories up the family tree are.
But, beyond this sum of complex genes, and soup of chromosomes where dominant protein structures rule over less dominant ones, to shape our individuality, is something more important. It is even more miraculous how our individual perceptions, opinions and behavior change depending on each and every experience, however small. Well, most of you would agree how noticeable changes to our accents become depending on which part of the world we spend some time in. So should it be any more surprising that our attitudes and perceptions undergo a similar change?
Thinking back about my childhood I can remember how the exposure (or not) to certain beleifs, values and morals have shaped my individuality. I have come to realize over the years that not every aspect of those notions and beleifs need be true (that would in effect become another topic some other time). At the same time, I am so thankful for everyone around, family, friends, teachers, and sometimes amazingly, even strangers, to contribute to some of the things that have shaped my thoughts and beleifs for the better. That being the case, now that we are in the same situation where we can (wow) shape the individuality of our little girl, I hope we are prudent enough to help her be a much more complete and open person than all of us are, as after all, she should be "the whole sum of all the good in us".
Comments, or thoughts anyone?
