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Thursday, April 19, 2012

The Essence of a Man

I believe that our personalities are essentially formed by the time we're five years old.  That is, the core of who you are, is already in place.

There is the molding and shaping after that, but the core of our existence has already taken shape.

In a Kindergaren class, you can easily spot the natural leader, the extrovert, the introvert, the fun-lover, the pensive one, and the risk-taker, among others.  Their personalities are already firmly in place, along with the way they see the world.

So we ask . . .

When did the cheater begin to cheat?

When did the perpetual liar begin to lie?

When did the scammer begin to scam?

Probably in Kindergarten, honing their craft as they grew older.

I know.  I know.  You're thinking, WHAT???

Hear me out.

One of my favorite movies was made ten years ago and its entitled, "The Emperor's Club."  It's about an influential teacher at a boarding school.

In it the teacher is faced with a challenging student, with questionable morals, who he mentors and takes under his wing.  The movie begins with the arrival of the class for a class reunion, years after they've graduated.  It was an opportunity for the teacher to see if what he tried to instill had taken root.

I'll stop here, so as not to give it away.  It is the moral and ethical issues that are raised in this movie that I find most fascinating.

And the question is asked again, "When did the deceitfulness take root?"  Could it have been avoided if tackled early?  Or was this their destiny, formed and shaped as little kids?

I know.  I know.  You're also thinking, I have way too much time on my hands.

What's funny is that I've never considered myself a "deep thinker."  Quite the contrary.  But in my brief time here, I've grown quite reflective.  Is that because I have more time to think, or am I taking the time to think and reflect?  Not sure.

I'm curious though . . . what do you think?  Are our personalities formed early on, filled with good stuff and/or questionable behaviors, or is this line of thinking completely nuts?

It's Ok if you think I've fallen off the deep end.  Sometimes I think that, too.





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