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.
We also had a lot of pets which include about 5 to 10 cats, 8 to 15 dogs, and three large aquariums full of different species of fish. Even until now, my parents are still caring for 15 dogs and puppies. They are also tending for a few livestock animals such as chickens, turkeys, pigs, goats, cows and water buffaloes.
Encountering those cute and helpless creatures everyday developed my love for animals especially dogs. Every time I watch movies with dogs as the major characters, I usually end up teary-eyed and emotional. I am very sensitive to animal abuse issues and hate people who tend to hurt these animals.
Furthermore, I grew up in a community with close family ties. More than 90 percent of the residents living in our Baranggay are close relatives. Every year, we celebrate the feast of our patron saint, St. Joseph. During the event, our community holds a grand reunion and relatives from different places gather and reunite.
Growing in a close-knit community influenced my social skills and my perception on relationships. The most important lesson I had learned from this influence is creating quality networks and giving utmost priority in developing positive relationships.
Our innate characteristics, that is our nature, can be a large determinant on our outlook and situation in life. However, I believe that our qualities are malleable. They can be transformed or developed as we are exposed to different kinds of experiences. Whatever path we have chosen to take and the kind of person we wanted to be is a matter of personal choice on how we deal with those experiences.
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