There are two things that influence our growth towards adulthood. We call them nature and nurture. Nature are the innate qualities that we got from our parent's genes while nurture are the external factors that affect our growth both positively and negatively.
Having been raised in a Province where there are lots of rice fields, blue-green mountains, pebbly seashores, and lush green forests, I always love nature and amazed by its grandness. In the morning when I wake up, I can hear the birds singing their morning greetings and the trees rustling their leaves while my skin is being touched by the cold morning breeze.
Peeping through the window, I can see the Sun rising behind a magnificent mountain which my ancestors call as Mount Kantayoktok. The sunlight immediately brightens the vast rice fields and the dense forest as the herons and wild ducks pass through the clear blue sky.
Living in a place like this reinforced my introverted personality and the love for God's creation. When I was still a kid, probably around 4th Grade, I am very fond of planting and caring for various kinds of plants like vegetables and root-crops. Seeing the plants grow provides me a sense of curiosity and fulfillment.
Our house is surrounded with a lot of fruit trees ranging from coconut trees, mango trees, guava trees, and a lot more. If I am hungry and craving for something sour, I'll just climb to a mango tree and pick several of its fruits without a cost of money. And if my mother wants to cook a healthy food, she'll just pick malunggay leaves, okra, or kangkong leaves from our backyard.
The abundance of healthy free food has a big impact in my physical growth. Probably that is the reason why I have quite a healthy body even since I was still a kid.
