Nature vs. Nurture

I've been puzzling over this conondrum lately. Remember that old limerick:

Twixt the optimist and the pessimist
The difference is droll.
The optimist sees the doughnut
While the pessimist sees only the hole.

What makes some of us essentially happy, outgoing, content with our lot and others perpetually dissatisfied. There's a brand new baby boy next door, five days old. I haven't seen him yet but I've seen adorable pictures, and I wonder what genes, what predispositions he brings to this world. He will grow up in a loving, supportive, strong family. But what will he be?
I think of Jacob with his irrepressible happy spirit, sometimes mischievous, occasionally manipulative and pouty but generally one of the world's happy people. He is by all means a most loved child, beloved by his parents, grandparents, and extended family. Sure, without that warm environment he might be someone else, but then again his innate spirit might triumph.
I could cite examples with all of my children and grandchildren but I'd be sure to tromp on someone's toes. Still, there's Edie, who seems to have some sort of second sight or insight--I like the word fey--and as one of her uncles said when she was still an infant, "She looks at us like she has it all figured out and we don't have a clue." That's clearly something that she brought into the world with her.
As most people know, my four children are all adopted, so they clearly brought different genetic make-ups into the world. But they were raised in the same household, same environment. They are all kind, compassionate, happy people, though each different in his or her own way. What accounts for that? Surely I didn't expect them to be carbon copies of each other, and they're not.
We all know people who self-destruct. There was the suicide of a young man in our church this week, a boy who seemingly had all going for him, good family, popularity, etc. What made him so unhappy? On the other hand, we know people in dire circumstances who rise above them--homeless people who put their lives together, get an education, and become contributing citizens. Handicapped people who find some way to continue to be part of the world and to contribute to it. Culture or genes?  Look now at the people of Japan who are so valiantly working to overcome the disasters that have befallen them--sure, a lot of that is culture, but all of it?
I have no scientific evidence, no proof, but I don't believe in Rousseau's blank slate. I think each of us is born with some codes embedded in us that shape our personalities and our future. Yes, environment, family, love, all that makes a difference in shaping us. But it can't always triumph over what we bring into the world with us. The question is, can we change our inherent traits? Can we look at ourselves and say, "I'm never happy, and I don't want that. I'm going to change it."?
What about you? Is your glass half empty or half full?

A powerful book

Reading Timothy Egan's The Worst Hard Time is like reading Dee Brown's Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee--you keep waiting for the story with a happy ending, but it only gets worse and worse. I thought I knew about the Dust Storms--but my idea was simplistic. I had no idea about the wheat boom that preceded the storms, a boom that caused farmers, some of the suitcase type, to plow up the prairies to plant more and more wheat. When a wheat surplus caused them to stop planting, land lay exposed--and blew away with the winds of a great drought. I didn't know either about the dust pneumonia that killed so many people--and especially children. Dead cows, butchered, were found to have starved to death because their stomachs were full of dirt and couldn't process food. And the story got more and more grim for several years--yes, it finally got better, the storms abated, but the scars remain to this day. And whole towns disappeared, never to rise again. Timothy Egan focuses on a few towns, a few famlies to make the story come alive--and it really does. This is gripping reading, and I recommend it to everyone who lives in the West.
The book also speaks to the current concern for what man is doing to the environment. The Dust Bowl was man-made, proof that man's actions do indeed impact the universe. We ought to take it as a cautionary tale today--that global warming has happened before doesn't mean we can ignore it and go our merry way burning petroleum and increasing hothouse gases. I love the comment by one Congressman (whose name unfortunately I can't remember) that being a conservative doesn't mean you have to appear to be an idiot.
Now, I'm going from one happy note--the Dust Bowl--to another, reading more of The Omnivore's Dilemma which sent me to the range-fed livestock ranch. So far, the taste test isn't proving that a success, but I'll read what the book has to say about "organic" vegetables.
There is really a happier note--beside the fact that it's raining in Texas, at least my part--and that's that Jacob brought his mother for supper last night. At slightly over nine months, he's standing for a few seconds without holding on to anything and walking a good distance if you hold both his hands. He'll be running around before we know it. He is, as always, extraordinarily happy and cheerful. Now he has a new trick that drives his mom wild--he refuses to lie still while his diaper is changed, but twists and turns--and he's strong enough that it's a problem
Jordan and I began to plan a busy spring--Easter and then Jacob's dedicaton at the church on Mother's Day (followed by a luncheon at my house for all involved). And we even began to think about Christmas. Yeah, I plan ahead.