Do you think we’re shaped more by our experiences or by who we are?
It’s a great question, I heard it somewhere. We don’t have anything of our own; whatever we do, become, or decide, society plays a great role in shaping it. It is even said we don’t have any life decisions of our own.
When we are born, we are a clean slate. Then our parents, teachers, neighbors, friends, and our surroundings fill it with ideas and goals. If you follow the pattern, there is a craze to go to foreign countries in South India, and then Punjabis have an affinity for Canada and the UK. Bihar has the largest number of IAS officers every year.
Take my example: my elder sister is in IT. She received a handsome package upon completing her Master’s, and her salary was higher than my father’s, which showed my family a golden path to success. I just followed their instructions, completed my master’s, and am now a successful IT engineer. In my success, I have no role other than the actual effort. My sister’s success influenced all the decisions.
In Philosophy, it is called determinism. A man can never decide on his own. So our lives are shaped by our surroundings, and we have nothing of our own. After we can make decisions of our own, we are influenced by our own experiences. Sometimes, when our dear ones don’t listen to our genuine advice, we say they will learn from their own experiences.
Now, whether they will learn or not, that varies from person to person. Apart from external influences, learning from personal experiences is the best way to improve one’s life. Negative experiences affect us deeply, and no one wants to experience them knowingly, but they are the most important for our growth.
Positive experiences, on the other hand, bring happiness and a drive to move forward and achieve whatever we desire. They can also be deceiving and hamper growth by introducing ego, fear of losing, and isolation. One must be very careful not to fall into the trap.
So, in short, we are completely shaped by our experiences, and we are nothing but reflections of our society.
Happy Reading! Keep Traveling!!!
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