The Things We Go Through

Psychologists do not have much tangible details about personalities because of the fact that a variety of things influence it. Our family and friends as well as the environment majorly affect our personalities. But one influence that many people overlook is the difficulties an individual goes through. Roman poet Horace once said “adversity has the effects of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant”. Several people disagree with him and believe that no matter what a person goes through, they will act the same way before and after the event. But in actuality the ample complications such as illness, family problems, and financial issues all bring out traits such as appreciating life, responsibility, and working harder.

Diseases and illnesses affect many people but it not only affects their health; it impacts their personalities as well. Going through a disease such as cancer and knowing that death can be lurking just around the corner causes a person to be thankful every second of their life. In a book, The Fault in our Stars by John Green both of the main characters go through cancer. At one point in the book the boy, Augustus, said something along the lines of “I’m not going to let myself be deprived of beautiful things” when Hazel questioned why he stares at her. Throughout the book many instances like this one occur where the characters marvel at all the beautiful little things in life that tons of healthy people take for granted. Cancer changed these characters because they grasped the idea that they can die at any point in time. Therefore they accept every extra minute as a gift from God. They lived through an obstacle, in this case cancer that brought out new traits in their personalities. ...

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...rn out to be. They argue that there is nothing that impacts our personalities. If this was legitimate then all humans would own identical character traits. Humans all possess unique personalities because we all go through different life experiences. The various events we go through change our characters making us all exceptional individuals.

Deathly illnesses, family problems, and financial complications bring out all kinds of characters including appreciation, responsibility, and working harder. Horace said that all types of adversity bring out character traits and I completely agree. Any little obstacle an individual goes through influences their personality. Since everyone in the world has gone through some kind of hardship that has shaped them to be the person they are today, I wonder how different humans would all be if hardships did not change anyone at all.