I have always believed that each of us is the composite of all of our previous life experiences. Think about that for a second, can you recall a life experience that has had a significant impact on who you are today? Maybe you lost a position that forced you to reassess your career choice, or maybe you lost a parent, sibling or close relative which had the effect of making you understand how fragile life really is, and how we should never take for granted those we love and hold close to our hearts.
My father, though a loving man, was always very strict, and a part of me always pledged that when I became a parent, my discipline techniques would be completely different from that of my father. As conscious of this as I was, there were times, when disciplining my sons, that I opened my mouth, and “my father’s words” came out. This reminded me of a quote by Philip Pullman who said, “One curious thing about growing up is that you don’t always move forward in time; you move backwards as well, as pieces of your parents and grandparent’s lives come to you.” This realization taught me that my life experiences, especially those involving my parents, have had a serious impact on who I am, and as Ralph Waldo Emerson states, “What lies behind us and what lies before us, are but tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
We may be successful at negating some of the difficulties that have impacted our lives, nonetheless, we always need to be conscious of how they affect us in order to make course corrections as we move through life. You may choose not to look at yourself as the composite of your life experiences; despite that, I hope you take a minute to look at your life and judge as to what may have had an impact on who you are today. Remember, as Barry Neil Kaufman states, “The way we choose to see the world creates the world we see.” I hope what you choose to see is a positive present and future.