The Shape of Us

I’ve often wondered if we become who we are because of our surroundings, or if we are born with some innate qualities that shape us without us having a say in the matter. Because I wanted to make sure that I knew everything that incompassed innate-ness, I googled it. I have learned that a simple way to find definitions to words on google is to type define: the word. Here is what I learned:

unconditioned: not established by conditioning or learning; “an unconditioned reflex”
natural: being talented through inherited qualities; “a natural leader”; “a born musician”; “an innate talent”
congenital: present at birth but not necessarily hereditary; acquired during fetal development

Today I watched Brayden doing something that it seemed he had a natural passion for. I let him “trial” a soccer class at a local indoor soccer field. As I watched him running around, dribbling the ball before the class started and during the “warm up” period at the beginning of the class, I realized that he truly, deeply is so incredibly enamored with sports that it’s unbelievable. I really believe that if he was allowed, he would’ve run around for an hour kicking that ball around. Back and forth across the field. Into the goal. Back and forth some more. Into the other goal. There are very few things in this world that keep his attention for any longer than a few minutes at a time. Kicking around that soccer ball defied this trait.

He was mesmerized.

He was enamored.

He was totally smitten.

I was joking with a friend the other day and told her that we literally could remove every toy from our house and keep only one thing–a big bucket full of balls and sports equipment. I am almost positive that we would never need anything else. Sure, there are a few other things that Brayden enjoys–coloring, books, blocks–but he would be okay without those. Take away his balls and he is a lost little boy.

So . . . the question remains . . . was Brayden’s love of sports derived from an innate quality that he was born with? Is he naturally like this because he was conceived from the genes of two athletes? Was this a congenital thing–random? Not necessarily hereditary, but just the luck of the draw? Or . . . can all this be thrown out the window and can we say that we created this inside of him–that because we have always naturally played with Brayden in active sports-driven ways, this created a love for these types of things deep inside?

Although you may not–I do find this interesting–especially since he’s only two. I can remember back to the summer after he just turned one, and he was already drawn to any type of ball. Is it really possible to plant the love of something in a child so deeply, who is so young? Maybe they are so incredibly moldable that it is truly not out of the question. If we had always played with musical toys and had instruments readily available and within reach for him to play with, would he have been conditioned into a musical creature? If all we had around our house were things related to animals–and all we did was read animal books, play with animal puzzles and watch animal movies–would Brayden be able to spend hours and hours at the zoo because he was so captivated? Because we had turned him into an animal lover?

The thing is, I never felt like all we had around here was balls. I just always felt like that was the one thing that he was always drawn to.

So, what are your thoughts about the whole thing? I’d like a second opinion. My insurance covers that.

That was a whole lot of rambling. But I do have one more thing to say about it–

I am probably going to be a basket case when my children get older. I was filled with such an incredible amount of joy and pride as I watched my little two-year-old, keeping up with all the kids older than him and looking much more coordinated than them. I smiled in my head, thanked God for his talents and what he will become, and thought to myself, ‘atta boy . . . way to show them that the new kid rocks.

Can’t imagine how happy I’ll be when he scores his first hat trick.

After all that reading, enjoy a few pictures from our weekend. We love it when James is home.