Genetics loaded in the gun.**

This is a conversation which started over on my Facebook page and it’s one Ive not been able to get off my mind.

Actually (dramatic pause) the convo. started long before that.

(this is your cue to wriggle around & get comfy in your chair. the post shall be mercifully short but there’s lottsa navel-gazing coming your way).

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

More specifically the quote about genetics loading the gun but environment pulling the trigger.

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

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

This is a concept I’ve pondered frequently as the Tornado gets older and faces the onslaught of potential negativity peer groups & media provides.

It’s a concept I’ve pondered frequently as Ive watched friends struggle with anxiety, depression & other mental health issues and wondered exactly what the Tornado’s gun contains.

It’s a concept, to the surprise and disagreement of friends, I find to be 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 issues/ailments, but I can create an environment which may STOP this predisposition 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 parts of it (oil pulling foreshadowing? we can only hope!) she will realize a ‘gun,’ while loaded, can be semi-dismantled, managed and worked around.

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

Do you read the quote as I do and choose to see it as empowering?Do you, like the majority of my friends, find the line depressing /frustrating due to how little control we have over the gun & our environment?

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

**This is a flashback post sparked by your comments. You appropriately inquired why on EARTH Id oil pull if it was as yucky as my face intimated on video.  Three words: GUM DISEASE, ALZHEIMER’S.  One more word: PREDISPOSED (aka they’re waiting in my gun).

View the original article here