The question asks: Are you shaped by your circumstances or by who you are?

I believe we are shaped by our circumstances. A baby when he or she is born has had nothing to help shape them into the person they will become. As they grow, they learn from their parents, their environment, from their teachers, and from their friends and acquaintances. What they learn shapes them into the person they will become when they step into the world as adults.

By the time they are adults they already know what they like and what they believe. Those ideas, shaped by the circumstances they already encountered as children, will lead them on the path that will give them the greatest satisfaction in life. It will lead them into careers that will help shape others, not only themselves. It will lead them into lasting friendships that will help give greater meaning to their lives.

Circumstances are the breath that makes us who we are.

Thank you for reading.