What Makes Us Who We Are?

My dad and I had a conversation once about whether character is inherent in someone or whether it is built. The analogy I like to use is that maybe it's like building a house: We are given certain tools and building supplies but it is our job to actually build the house with what we have been given. Sometimes we might build our house and a storm comes and we realize we weren't prepared and we might have to rebuild, this time keeping rain, high winds, fire, snow, etc. in mind. I guess my question now is what makes some people "good" or some people have character and what makes people "bad" or "lacking character"? Is it laziness? Is it upbringing? Is it that they haven't seen the storm yet or don't realize their house is dilapidated? I read another quote the other day that I really liked: "The finest steel has been through the hottest fire".

The other day a friend sent me an email and in it he mentioned Gavrilo Princip, who I looked up on Wikipedia. The article said he was a Bosnian Serb who assassinated the archduke of Austria, one of the events which led up to the start of World War I. It also said that he had bad health growing up and a rough upbringing and was treated as if he was "small and weak", and that this led him to need to prove himself. AKA led him to assassinate the archduke. Well I just think that is total bologne. Blah blah blah people with rough lives doing lame things...Guess what. All of our lives are tough and not equally so. Some people have it really rough and some people don't. I'd say I've finally had enough happen to me that I haven't totally had it easy, but think about it this way: people who have had really hard lives have had more opportunities to better themselves than I have. And either they have done so or they haven't. I guess the difference is that I had someone around to show me how to learn from what has happened and from my mistakes. But then again, they say when the student is ready, the teacher will appear and I do believe that.

So anyways, I'd say I've had a pretty good life. The only place I think it has really sucked is with guys. It's just not working. I'll be 24 in a few days and I haven't been in a relationship much longer than a year, and that was only one time. I honestly feel like I am this amazing person, some guy's dream girl, only he just doesn't know I'm his dream yet. But anyways, what I wanted to say is: To everyone who has done me wrong, Thank you. To every guy who has broken my heart, Thank you. You have played an important role in my development and I wouldn't be who I am without you and your behavior. I hope that you have learned from what you've done and not repeated your follies, although we all repeat our mistakes sometimes. But you have been just as important as those who have taught me how to recover and who I want to be, so I thank you from the bottom of my heart and I wish you the very best. I don't wish you happiness, but I don't necessarily wish that for myself either. I think too much happiness is not a good thing. More on that later.