By Pam Finger
from Condensed Chicken Soup for the Soul
Copyright 1996 by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen &
Patty Hansen
You do not have to be your mother unless she is who
you want to be. You do not have to be your mother's mother,
or your mother's mother's mother, or even your grandmother's
mother on your father's side. You may inherit their chins
or their hips or their eyes, but you are not destined to
become the women who came before you. You are not destined
to live their lives. So if you inherit something, inherit
their strength, their resilience. Because the only person
you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.