We are a product of three factors: genetics, experience and happen-stance; some might also include spirituality but I am inclined to lump that with experience.
Our genes determine our physical traits, our intellect and our talents; they also play a role in the development of our personality. In addition, genes confer a relative predisposition or immunity to various forms of disease, including pathophysiologic mechanisms related to the aging process.
Experience begins in utero and continues until the end of our life. It encompasses all of the influence that we receive from our parents, our family, our friends and everyone and everything that we encounter in our lives. Modified by our genetic makeup, this experience formulates our personality, our beliefs, our convictions, our interests and our lifestyle. These, in turn, affect our physical and mental health, our personal achievements and how we interact with the world around us.
Finally, happenstance can play a significant role in our life. Being at the right place at the right time or at the wrong place at the wrong time can, respectively, expand our horizons or shorten our life; casual meetings, accidental death, random murder and fatal infections are examples of such unforeseen and, in many cases, unpreventable events. However unsettling it may be, luck, good and bad, is part of life; some might call this the hand of God but I'll stick with happenstance.
