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“And God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind.””
(Genesis 1:24)

Another way of asking if grandmother is to thank for happiness is to ask:
Do genes play a role in happiness?
Genes do play a role, environment does play a role, but choices still hold the key. Allow me to explain.

Genetic factors are seen in temperament. From birth, babies have degrees of certain temperaments, including happiness - the tendency to laugh or not, friendliness or not, increased activity or not, persistence or not, calmness or not, being fussy or not, being predictable or not, to name just a few. Monozygotic twin studies in the 1990s bore this out. Identical twins separated at birth with no further common environments have similar personality traits, such as happiness; name their children similar names; have alike habits and equivalent hobbies; wear matching clothes and even the same number of rings; name their dogs the same names; and have identical idiosyncrasies.

Now, before you think I have gone off the deep end, let me repeat. I do not believe that we inherit happiness or sadness. I do believe that genetic vulnerabilities exist in regard to depression, and that environment also plays a role, but we still can choose. Without the choice concept, there is no hope for happiness.
Having said the above, the genetics field also has contributions to make to this idea of happiness. Genetics has come a long way in producing almost irrefutable evidence of genes playing a role in happiness. Consider the following.

Approximately 150 years ago, in 1856, George Mendal, a monk who was born in the Czech Republic, founded genetics. Today this field of study is known as classical genetics or transmission genetics. The concept of dominance, segregation, and independent assortment came from his work. In 1868 Miescher, a Swiss medical student, isolated DNA. Eighty-four years later, DNA was recognized as the genetic material. In 1869 Francis Galton added to the field of genetics when he wrote Hereditary Genius: An Inquiry into Its Laws and Consequences. In the 1950s Rosalind Franklin did inchoate X-rays of the double helix of the DNA molecule. In 1953 Francis Crick and James Watson identified the double helix of DNA. In 1990 the Human Genome Project officially began (the genome is the entire set of genetic instructions in the nucleus of every cell). Today the study of genetics is further subdivided: classical genetics, molecular genetics, population genetics, and quantitative genetics.
Genetics refers to inheritance. Genetic factors may make certain individuals more vulnerable to certain mental problems. Scientific data points to a significant genetic component in such behavioral conditions as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, OCD, and depression. While people do not inherit depression, some may inherit a brain chemistry and structure that makes them more prone to developing depression under stress, whereas other people might develop heart disease under stress. The second factor required in depression is some kind of environmental factor, such as stress, medical disease, a drop in hormones, or a virus. Even so, our choices are always important in how these factors are handled, thereby affecting our happiness.

• How do you show your gratitude to your grandparents?
  How often do you take time for them?

Rejoicing, On the Victory Side!

Beau

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