A popular theory of psychology holds that events in one’s childhood will mold an individual’s character for life and determine how he acts. As these theories ebb and flow so much, it is somewhat difficult to gauge whether this is true or not.
However, if this is true, I do wonder what my earliest memories have done for me. I suppose the more vivid and traumatic memories stand out the most. My memories don’t go as far back as most people. I think I can go back to when I was 5 years old. Colombia. I do recall some older boy pushing me into a pool for some reason and nearly drowning. I recall being yanked out of the pool by my arm and sputtering out a lungful or so of pool water. I had nothing to do with the water for at least 5 years and was somewhat of a late bloomer as far as swimming.
But is that necessarily the reason for my slow swimming development? Does the fact that I never learned until I was ten tie into this event or rather to the fact that in those intervening years I was busy moving to the States and assimilating into a new culture?
Do people often use their pasts as excuses for their present or their future behavior?
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