We Are Born-and After Birth

We Are Born – And After Birth

I was born.  That is all.  My destiny was yet to

be written. 

No one pushed my baby carriage and carried a sign proclaiming me as the next great drummer, or singer or writer.  No, no.  I was only a baby, who cried a lot, pooped a lot, slept a lot and that was that. 

What I became was due in part, to influence.  My Dad was a minister.  That meant I was in church a lot and heard a whole lot of southern gospel music.  I’m certain that influenced my music development later on, but even then, I had to learn note names, scales, tonal references and all other musical theories to get me along the way in my music years as a conductor, arranger, drummer and music minister. 

Michelangelo was not born a sculptor nor painter.  He was introduced to those elements along the way, but they were not noticeable at birth.  He had grit, determination and a strong will, but he wasn’t born an artist.  He worked hard at becoming one.

We learn skills along the way.  We observe, we read and study, we mimic, we practice, and we learn some more.

And then we become. 

I don’t know where the writing bug came from that has afflicted me.  No one hit me over the head with some ancient scrolls, or stuck a pen in my hand at age one.  I wasn’t born to be a writer. 

I wasn’t born to be anything except me. 

Me.  Who am I?

I am the sum of all the influences that have crossed my path.  I am a little bit gospel, a southern gentleman, in many regards I am self-educated though I have a BS degree.  I’ve dabbled in a lot of careers and have had some pretty good success.  But was I born to any of them?

Nada.

It seems to me that we are products of our influences rather than a birthright.  My parents, siblings, accumulated lifelong friendships, teachers, church people, education and reading material have all contributed to whoever or whatever I have become. 

They have helped me form my belief system, my value system and develop my compass bearings. 

Somewhere along the way, I’ve managed to understand a few core principles.

~I am responsible for ME.

~I get to make choices for ME.

~I can learn from life and improve or blame life, or wallow in self-pity, but choose I must.

Yes, you and I were born.

Now, what are we going to do about that?

This is my morning reflection.

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