What’s in your gun?

This is a conversation which started over on my Facebook page and one Ive still not been able to get out of my mind.

Actually, it started long before that (this is your cue to wriggle around & get comfy in your chair.  while this post shall be mercilessly brief there is lottsa navel-gazing coming your way).

I was snarfing sushi and talking BRAVO TV debating current affairs with a group of friends when the subject of nature versus nurture came up.

Some of us weighed in heavily on the notion of nurture being everything, while others firmly believed that nature predetermined everything from temperament to scholastic ability.

Me? Im an opinionated one and fall firmly into the camp (there’s a camp right?) which believes genetics loads the gun, but environment pulls the trigger.

It is a line I’ve pondered frequently as the Tornado gets older and faces the onslaught of potential negativity that peer groups & media may provide.

It’s a line I’ve pondered frequently as Ive watched friends struggle with anxiety & depression and wondered exactly what the Tornado’s gun contains.

It’s a line, to the surprise and disagreement of many of my friends, I find to be both uplifting and inspiring.

As a parent I can’t help but worry about my daughter.

Will she be happy? Will she struggle? Will she experience the pain of bullying? Depression?

As a result I find great comfort in choosing to view our life together through the lens of she may be genetically predisposed for certain issues or ailments, but I can create an environment which may STOP this predisposure from becoming reality.

It gives me hope that:

By practicing (& not preaching) she will choose to live her life in a healthy fashion.By trying to be the best adult role-model I can she will choose to create a healthy & supportive adult-environment of her own.By teaching her even INACTION is a choice she will choose to create a life of purpose, intention and health.By sharing with her my genetic blueprint and showing her how I’ve managed to change facets of it she will realize our ‘gun,’ while loaded, can be semi-dismantled, managed and worked around.

Which brings me back my question to the others that day:

Do you read the quote as I do and choose to see it as empowering?

Or do you, as the majority of my friends did, find the line depressing and frustrating due to how little control we have over both the gun and our environment?

Please to (holster yer guns and) hit us all up in the comments.

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