Genetics... or learned behavior??

Did you ever wonder where you came from and how you became the person you are today??  What part of you is genetics...and do you have pre-dispositioned traits... and how much of you comes from learned behavior??

Yes, this is some deep thinking material here, right??

So, my blue eyes came from my genes.  Though, neither of my parents have blue eyes.  AND, neither do any of my children:(  so sad!!

I guess you could say all of your physical features come directly from your genetic pool.  And, you can all point a finger at the relative that gave you them.  Some desirable...and well... some NOT!!  ha ha

But, what about the way we think and act??  Are we learning how to do this stuff??  And, if you were to take 2 different individuals (from 2 different sets of parents) and put them in the same environment, would we react in the same manner??

Example: 2 different kids, same age, same sex, same look... put them in the same house with the exact same conditions (wealth, neighborhood, part of the world, etc) .. both are treated the same way (ie- both praised for what they do and how beautiful they are, etc).
    Would they both react in the same way??  Would they both feel that they are smart and beautiful and could do anything in the world??  Or would one go in the opposite direction and not believe what they are being told while the other believes it whole-heartedly??

Why, you ask, am I pondering these things??  Ha...well, I seem to find some things 'wrong' with me and I don't want to pass them on to my children.  So, I am wondering if I need to figure out how to change ME in order to change them.  Does this make sense??

I am constantly feeling like everything I do is NEVER good enough.  So, I wonder, how can I change that??  How did I become that way??  I am in constant fear of failure with everything I do and so, I feel like I never finish what I start b/c I'm afraid of the end results.  How do I become more confident in myself so that my children are confident??

Organization- I am constantly trying to stay organized but I feel as though that is a daily failure too.  I know, I know... you all will just say, But, you have 4 kids and things are crazy.  Yes, they are... all the more reason I need to try and stay a bit more organized.  Did I learn to NOT be organized or am I just wired that way?  I see my daughter and her highly UN-organized and messy room and I think, did I do that to her??  Did I pass on some kind of gene that makes her that way??  Or did I teach her that unknowingly??

Oh, and singing... why can some of us sing and some of us can't??  Is that passed down or is that a luck of the draw kind of thing??  Same thing with dancing and playing sports and being book smart etc.

I'm sure we can all learn to unlearn the unwanted behaviors...but can we actually learn wanted physical traits??  Can you really try and try and try to play baseball only to keep failing?  And which girl (from example above) will actually continue to be beaten by something they can't physically do but mentally want to do so they keep trying and trying and trying??  Does one give up and move on while the other remains adamant about finishing the task??  Do they both give up and move on??

OK- was that thought provoking for you??  My brain is fried... I'm off to sleep or something:)

Have a great day!!