Mere thoughts on nurture as the dominant influencer of you
Nature vs Nurture is a topic that has been debated and is still heavily debated today. We are still speculating as to whether or not nature plays a bigger role in our ultimate outcome as a person (psychology, physiology -- Determinism; per-determination etc) or if nurture plays a grandeur role in molding who we are through experience and purposeful action
Michael Merzenich was the first one to coin the term "Mental Force". Mental force is described as the action of PURPOSEFULLY putting your attention where you want it.
Think of attention like a flashlight in the dark. As you peer around the room, you see many objects; a desk with scattered papers, a bed unceremoniously laid out, an old tv, your favorite couch, the colors on the wall... So many possibilities for your flashlight to gaze on. Your flashlight represents your attention and the room represents your brain.
The objects in your room (brain) represent thoughts that occur. Although, a better analogy for thoughts could be a river to reflect the idea of the stream of consciousness that occurs in your mind, but I have decided to use a dark, unlit, room.
Ultimately, the objects in the room don't change. They appear without your knowing and it's your decision as the observer of your own thoughts to decide which objects (thoughts) you choose to WILLFULLY pay attention to. Maybe your flashlight lands on the old tv and your decide to keep it's gaze on that television; you inspect it. You find it's old and dusty. The buttons are slightly worn, the color looks dull, you notice how outdated it feels just looking at it. Details start popping in your head because you've DECIDED to put your focus on this object.
We may not be able to choose which thoughts come in to our mind as our brain is a reply to the outside stimuli that is constantly being fed through the senses, but our mind has the ability to choose which thoughts get priority over others.
The act of choosing a thought and paying attention to that thought is the act of using "will power." The act of stopping your attention from wandering and purposefully focusing on 1 thought, ie: playing scales on a piano and observing yourself play and playing with INTENT, is the action of using your will or volitional effort.
