{"id":10428,"date":"2015-09-11T05:30:30","date_gmt":"2015-09-11T12:30:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michellejolin.com\/wordpress\/?p=10428"},"modified":"2015-09-10T21:56:15","modified_gmt":"2015-09-11T04:56:15","slug":"choosing-who-to-become","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=10428","title":{"rendered":"Choosing who to become"},"content":{"rendered":"

So, I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we\u2019ll never know most of them. But even if we don\u2019t have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there.
\n— S.Chbosky\/The Perks of Being A Wallflower. <\/p>\n

They’ll hurt you and desert you,
\nThey’ll take your soul if you let them,
\nOh yeah, but don’t you let them.
\n–J. Taylor\/You’ve Got A Friend<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One of the things I have really wondered  about over the last few years is how much control we have over who we become. There are a lot of things in life that are entirely out of our control. Maybe most things. Where we are born and raised. Who raises us. A loving or abusive upbringing. <\/p>\n

A lot of the things we don’t have any control over have a huge impact in how we turn out. Does someone teach us to control our impulses? Does anyone read with us? Does someone teach us manners?<\/p>\n

Then there is a certain core part of us that is us. The self, whatever that means. Two people with the same upbringing can turn out very differently. There are elements of the personality that we seem to be born with. <\/p>\n

Eventually, we grow older and reach a point where we do have more control. We have choices. <\/p>\n

Maybe our core self doesn’t change. Overall, I think our personality traits are often born practically the second we are.  I have always been someone who ponders things. Some people are naturally spontaneous. Does that mean I can’t work on not overthinking everything or that I can’t be spontaneous? Of course not. We have a whole lot of choice about how we live, and even more choices when it comes to how we react to life. How we react to how people treat us, or to things that happen to us. <\/p>\n

Do we assume the worst or have faith?<\/p>\n

Do we let ourselves be consumed with anger and hate or do we try to steer ourselves in a different direction and become someone  who reacts with empathy and compassion? That part, I am convinced, is a choice. Not always an easy one!<\/p>\n

Here’s what I think:<\/p>\n

It’s not about the answers. It’s about continuing to ask the questions. It’s about wondering if you like the person you are becoming every day. Asking what you can do to compensate for traits that you find less desirable. Trying things out. <\/p>\n

Never stop wondering. Never stop asking “what if…”<\/p>\n

Never stop becoming who you want to be.  Accept that you will never be finished becoming you. <\/p>\n

Always be a work in progress. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So, I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we\u2019ll never know most of them. But even if we don\u2019t have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. — S.Chbosky\/The Perks of Being A Wallflower.  They’ll hurt you and … Continue reading Choosing who to become<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8959,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-random-thoughts"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michellejolin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/IMG_2470-0.jpg?fit=341%2C391&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7lr3R-2Ic","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5632,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=5632","url_meta":{"origin":10428,"position":0},"title":"Not being un-myself","author":"Michelle","date":"May 9, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"And tell me, did Venus blow your mind? Was it everything you wanted to find? And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there? --Train\/Drops of Jupiter I was talking to a friend who joked about my use of a double negative. Using a negative to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Words"","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":457,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=457","url_meta":{"origin":10428,"position":1},"title":"What’s the most important thing you never said?","author":"Michelle","date":"July 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"It's the damage that we do and never know. 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Also, oh my gosh, I feel a blog coming over me. --Me It often feels like I have no control over the words that come out\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Words"","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8170,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=8170","url_meta":{"origin":10428,"position":3},"title":"Big moments","author":"Michelle","date":"December 6, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Bottom line is, even if you see them coming, you're not ready for the big moments. No one asks for their life to change, not really. But it does. So, what are we, helpless? Puppets? Nah. The big moments are gonna come, you can't help that. It's what you do\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Words"","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8697,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=8697","url_meta":{"origin":10428,"position":4},"title":"A list of desirable attributes, or what do I want in a partner? Everything","author":"Michelle","date":"December 22, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Lately I have been having a hell of a time making up my mind about something. Assuming my expectations are unreasonable. Assuming I am wrong. Not really knowing what I want. Whenever I am faced with a decision and an answer isn't obvious, I like to make a list. Or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Words"","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11062,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=11062","url_meta":{"origin":10428,"position":5},"title":"What do I want, anyway?","author":"Michelle","date":"February 13, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Be careful what you wish for, lest it come true. --Anon The devil is in the details. --Everyone I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want So tell me what you want, what you really, really want --the Spice Girls In this time of personal and professional\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Random thoughts"","block_context":{"text":"Random thoughts","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=20"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10428\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}