Recently, I asked how one becomes a different person and answered that one becomes different by acting differently, as opposed to wishing to be different. Of course, people tend to assume one would only act differently if one wished to do so. But that is not necessarily true. People sometimes act in ways that will lead them to become someone that they do NOT want to become. A person who overindulges in alcoholic beverages often does not want to become an alcoholic. But such repeated overindulgence leads there no matter what he desires.
Another instance of behavior leading a person to becoming different apart from his desire to change is child-rearing. Parents have goals for their children’s character and require various behaviors of them in the hope that it will bring about that change. This often starts long before the child has any idea that adulthood lies in his future or that he is developing into a character that will be partly determined in the present.
Continue reading “Can You Guard Your Heart?”