Self-Esteem Challenge Day 10: Why are you the way you are?

Today is Day 10 of the Self-Esteem Challenge, originally from Better than Dark Chocolate. It's a series of questions and prompts to get you thinking about your good qualities and things that make you happy or proud. See my introductory post for more info.

Why are you the way you are?

I think a lot of who I am comes from the way I have been brought up as this is where I get my values from and these are very important to me. I've inherited quite a balanced mix of personality traits from each of my parents (all the best ones of course) and I've also been lucky enough to have a large but close-knit extended family. I was always very close to my grandparents and learned a lot from them as well as my parents. I was brought up to be down-to-earth, kind to others, loving, curious and open-minded. Being a 'first-born' child has probably also given me quite a maternal nature and a sense of responsibility, as well as a degree of bossiness!

My family always encouraged me to learn as much as I could about the world, buying me books and getting me interested in reading and writing from a young age. They were always encouraging but realistic too-I knew that I had to work hard to achieve my dreams. I also get my sense of humour and my somewhat eclectic taste in films and music from them. I do believe some of my experiences have shaped me into the person I am too.

But there are of course aspects of myself that are uniquely 'me'-the peculiar quirks and way of thinking that no one else has. Where these come from I do not know, but I'm happy with them just the same.

What has made you into the person you are?