The Adventurer and the Clinger

The adventurer and the clinger. 

I was starting up the escalator the other day after leaving Barnes and Noble, when I noticed a little boy no older than four coming down the other side unaccompanied. My first response was to look for his mother, wondering if he had possibly wandered off by himself. A second later I noticed his mother at the top of the stairs. She was holding an infant in her arms, and tucked behind her holding tightly to her hand was another little boy who appeared to be the same age as the first. Twins. 

Except one little boy was a good six or seven steps in front of the rest. In fact, at that point he had actually sat down very contentedly on the escalator stairs. I couldn't help but be intrigued by the differences between the two. One has stepped onto the escalator alone and unafraid, while the other reluctantly had stepped on board only with the reassurance of his mother's hand. 

I wondered why? 

Why are some of us natural born adventurers and others cautious and unsure at every step? The boys were both the same age having the same mother, and yet the way they approached the world was completely different. Now the first brother will probably make a few more trips to the emergency room before he makes it to adulthood. His brother, on the other hand will probably look before he leaps, and may just need a band-aid or two.  However, is one way necessarily better than the other when it comes to living a life? Sure the first brother might end up with a few more adventures, but the second might not end up with so many troubles. 

It really got me to thinking about the whole "nature vs nurture" question. Once again as much as we may want to be different than we are, our true nature will usually win out. Gretchen Rubin, author and blogger, states, "We can choose what we do, but not what we like to do." Even at a young age, this was pretty much apparent in these two brothers.