Did you really choose to be who you are? How did you come to be your character?

Did you choose your race, gender, or body type? Did you choose the family, neighborhood, or community you grew up in? Did you choose the schools you went to, or the classmates you had?

Can you imagine who you’d be – your character – if you were born into a different race, gender, or body type? Can you imagine who you’d be if you had grown up in a different family living in a different community? Can you imagine who you’d be if you had never met ANY of the people you’ve ever known?

How could you? How could you even imagine who you’d be – your character – if you stripped away everything you have ever learned from every experience you have had since birth? If you could strip away everything you’ve learned, would there be any “you” left? How do you know? How could you know?

How could you know if the very words you use to ask yourself the question are learned? How could you know if the ways you know and experience yourself are all learned?

Our awareness of possible choices, our abilities to choose, and ultimately the choices we make are all determined by our learning.

In every way not destined at birth, we are destined to become the characters we learn to become.