You know, there is this interesting paradox about people being defined by who they are compared to whom they wish to become. The fact is, very few people have the ability to drive themselves forward and away from what they were created to be.
 
There are so many facts that goes into a person’s foundational and psychological make up. All you have to do is to look at where a person was born, what type of family they were born into, and who they were forced to or choose to associate with as a young person, based upon geographical and socio/economic condition, and it is very easy to see why a person emerges through their life defined by a very specific basis and mindset.
 
Most people can never arise above their foundational elements.
 
Most people, even those who despise their parents, their family, their society, their environment do not steer very far from those defining factors. Though people may hate the way they were raised, most imitate their parents as they pass into and through their adulthood. This goes towards not only the way they behave in their life, but the way they treat their siblings, their friends, and their children, as well.
 
Others, hate the culture they were born into. Yet, watch them through their life and the behaviors cemented into that culture is the way the act and react to the world.
 
Many/most who behave in a very defined manner will deny this fact until the end, especially if it is defined by a negative mindset or destructive actions. But, all you have to do is watch their behavior and/or have known their family or understood the cultural environment where they grew up to see the basis of what they exhibit.
 
Some people develop very defined behaviors that arise somewhere outside of the commonality of their family or environment. There are people who become compulsive liars or thieves or people who intentionally try to hurt others. There are many who care very little about anyone else and only do things that are designed to categorically help themselves or make themselves feel a definitive kind of way.  
 
In some cases, this aberrant behavior can be traced back to the way, how, or where they were raised. “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” and all of that kind of stuff. In other cases, people come to express themselves in very negative manners that are not family or culturally defined.
 
Have you ever known a pathologic liar? Isn’t it terrible associating with a person like that because not only are they telling lies to you but, more than likely, they are telling lies about you, and their relationship with you, to other people. You can never trust them. You can ask them to stop, but many people lost in a mindset like this do not possess the will or the ability to shift away from this behavior.
 
Have you ever known a thief? Isn’t it horrible, because not only do they put you in harm’s way but simply by your knowing and associating with them, as they are creating such bad karma in all that they do, that it cannot help but rub off on you.
 
This is the same with people who base their life upon insecurity which is the primary reason they focus their existence on the criticism and haltered towards others. And, so on.
 
All of these behaviors are simply not good. Yet, have you ever known anyone who has exhibited any of these behaviors who has changed?
 
This is something to think about as you pass through your life. Not only as it pertains to others but as it pertains to you.
 
Who are you? Really, who are you? How do you behave and what does your behavior bring into your life? Does it make your life, the life of other people, and the entire world better as a whole? Or, is everything you do only focused on you?
 
Moreover, do the people you association with, in doing what they do, do they make the world a better or more whole place? Do they possess the power to stop any bad behavior they are engaging in—control themselves thereby creating a change in who and what they are and what they do and how they behave?
 
How about you? Look at your existence. How did your birth, your youth, where you lived and how you lived affect who you have become? Who you are? Is that who you want/wanted to be?  And, if you want to be something different, do you possess the power to make yourself something different and to change?
 
People can speak about all kinds of things. They make plans. They can make claims. But, if you do not possess the true ability to make yourself that better you, than who is in control of your life and your actions, leading to what you do, who you do it to, creating the ultimate definition of your life?