Does Your Past, or Your Ancestors Past, Define Who You Are Today?

Can you be defined by what your ancestors did, or who your ancestors were?

This is probably a question that could just as easily be aimed at psychology students as it could historians or family historians and one that is undoubtedly far more advanced than my own level of education! That said, I do have my own thoughts and views on the subject, as I’m sure many of you do too.

I would say that, to a certain degree, much of what shapes us today is inherited and part of our DNA. However, not everything about us comes from inherited DNA. We also learn from a very young age through what we see and what we are surrounded by. A child will learn from a step-father just as much as from a biological father.

What we learn and discover does not necessarily have to define us. We are all individual and unique, and although we learn through both nature and nurture, there is also a certain amount of free spirit within all of us. It is this free spirit and our ability to challenge what we know and what we accept, that makes us all different. The amount of free spirit in each of us will vary; even siblings can be vastly different in their make-up.

Life experiences also play a big part in shaping who we are today. Both good and bad experiences influence our thought processes, but again, they do not have to define who we are. These experiences should help us with future decision-making, although some people struggle to learn from past events. Your current life is, to a large extent, the result of your past actions, choices and experiences, but you don’t have to be defined by them.

Our memories can also cloud our thought processes in both positive and negative ways. When I think about my childhood and school holidays, for example, all I remember are gloriously sunny days and playing out every day. The reality, of course, is that I am only remembering the good bits. We no doubt had just as many awful summers back then as we do today, but selective memory picks out what it wants to keep.

Memories can also be heavily influenced by emotion, both good and bad, and those emotions often become permanently attached to them. Our past shapes the person we are today, for better and for worse. How we view our past experiences, both consciously and subconsciously, will influence how we approach life now.

So, can we be defined by what our ancestors did?

You are not your past, nor are you your ancestors’ past. Your past does not define your future, but it certainly helps to shape it, either consciously or subconsciously.

Nobody can predict the future or what it will bring. However, the only way we can plan for the future is by drawing on our memories of the past. Whether that includes the memories of our ancestors, or even some kind of inherited ancestral memory, is still up for debate.

I don’t have the answers to the original question, but I would genuinely be interested to hear the thoughts of others, especially those with real-life experiences they feel have helped define their own lives.

My dad sadly died when I was just three years old. I was too young to have any memories of him, do I think that shaped my future? Absolutely, of course it did. It completely changed my life without me even realising it at the time. I grew up with a very different life to the one I could have had.

As I have grown older, that thought has stayed with me: the what-ifs and the moments I missed. Has that shaped my future? Definitely. But so have many other things. We are all a mixture of countless influences. What happens in our past will always be part of who we are today, but not every part.

We are shaped by our past and our present, and we also have the power to influence and change our future. So yes, our past shapes our future, but it doesn’t have to define who we are today.

Why not check out my blogging websites:

Chiddicks Family Tree

The Old Palace School Bombing