DNA the “life molecule” … You are unique.

I’ve been pondering the “where did I come from” question lately.  I guess we all ask this at some point.  It seems the key to “me” is in the string of DNA forming character and physical appearance which determines how I look:  the colour of my hair, face shape even nose.  I’ve checked an old photo of Dad and my nose is exactly like his.  How did that happen?

It’s the same with plants, animals and every living thing.  They have a mirror likeness inherited from predecessors – usually a mixture of male and female making a similar yet vastly different being from the spark of new life.

I could bring into this frame:  Did I come from an amoeba which crawled out of the ocean progressing into a monkey then a person:  me?  Sorry, I don’t buy it and I don’t see any half-monkey, half-people wandering around.  If we put every single animal and fish, etc together in a line-up and compared them to every person on the planet then people still don’t look anything like animals and fish. People tend to look like people.  Yes, I agree monkey’s eyes can look soulful and they have arms and legs, yada, yada … but I’m just not hairy like a monkey, okay!

Getting back to the real issue – this latest thought process has come from phone conversations with my Mum where she’s shared lots about my Dad which I was unaware of (Dad passed on when I was 22).  My parents were divorced when I was young and it’s quite usual they might not say good things about each other after that.  Imagine my surprise when she told me some of his background before and during the time they were together.  I found out he was an adventurer and world traveller including 3 years in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and travelled to Perth on leave where he met Mum.  They married at the end of his leave and travelled to Singapore where he continued working with the Admiralty of the Royal Navy in electronics/electricity including as a specialist in fixing steering systems in ships like Destroyers.  All these previously unknown characteristics immediately resounded in me.  Graham (husband and pal) has been telling me for years I’m like my Dad but, as Graham never met Dad – he missed out by a couple of months – I never understood how he knew.  Mum has now confirmed, yes, you are like your father and it was a compliment.

Why would I talk about this?  I have realised the impact of DNA – the bits from my Mum and Dad, the string of DNA from generations of grandparents I never knew anything about – all this, pieced together, has defined me right down to the hairs on my head and the impact of all this determines so many aspects of day to day life.  A very big picture not only for me but for you and, if you have children, for all those kids who come from your combined DNA.

Yet, even with all these bits of DNA in our past, it clearly tells us one thing:  we are all unique in a special one-of-a-kind way.  Not one of us is an exact replica.  Our DNA string, fingerprints, footprints, mouth and nose, physical and emotional and thinking processes are still only one of a kind even with the estimated 107 billion people who have been born so far with 7 billion currently alive and there’s not another person like you or me.  WOW!

I would add a personal perspective here:   “Every good and perfect gift is from above … from the Father of Heavenly Light.”  As Graham sees it: “God’s footprint in nature and in our lives and destiny.”

So what do I think about DNA:  the “life molecule”?

In looking into where we’ve come from, well, it’s a platform – a foundation – our inheritance really – with all the positive aspects of gifts and talents passed on to us from a unique mixture of “gen’s” before us and connecting how we can fulfil our unique potential and purpose and walk the life road before us.  We can see that, yes, if my Dad was great at fixing steering systems in ships with the Royal Navy Admiralty in Singapore and Ceylon in the early years of his career and then embraced new technologies and research into engineering and designing rockets blasting off at the Woomera Rocket Range and submarine design then it explains why I love watching YouTube’s of Aircraft Carriers and Destroyers smashing through ocean waves and Jets taking off and landing and imagining one day I could be in an FA-18 Hornet or Apache Helicopter.  Bring it ON!!  It finally explains the “why” in having a natural affinity with software applications and CSS code (self-taught with only a small amount learned from a book) and in thinking through projects then picking up tools fixing things.  I love watching James Bond and Fast & Furious movies and the sound and feel of a well-built car engine and, while I’m no good driving a manual car, I love sport mode and the feel of rev’s directly under my foot especially in a good diesel engine when it hits the sweet spot and rpm, a quality sequential gearbox and weight ratio all connect and the torque/pull almost throws me back in the seat.  YAY!!

I’ve only just realised this is not a normal thing for a female to be interested in.  Really?  I asked my hairdresser if she was interested in watching Aircraft Carriers or Destroyer’s or Jets and she looked at me, confused, like:  Why would I want to do that?  It wasn’t even on her radar.  Yet she told me her daughter has school friends visit and, at just 6 years old, she helps her pals by cutting their hair and does a great job.  The silent but effective, positive impact of DNA – the life molecule – a gift from her Mum – strikes again.

I’ve just found out wherever my Dad travelled, he always organised a 3 piece band with drums and piano with him on clarinet or saxophone jamming together making their own music.  He was a great dancer with natural rhythm.  Explains why I love a wide variety of music and have a background singing and would go to Night Clubs and dance for hours in younger years.  Singing along to “The Way You Look Tonight” Maroon 5 makes me happy but now I understand and feel connected to my Father and his style of music.  Mum said he was an immaculate dresser – had his own style which also explains when I started working, I spent money on clothes – when no-one around me understood – and followed my inner instincts finding my own style – something Graham liked when he met me.

I’ve done okay unknowingly following in his footsteps in many ways and yet they are still my own footsteps and choices.

Then there’s the DNA passed on from my mother but that’s for another time and story.  I definitely know my love of jewellery has come from her and there are many things we share in common.

To uncover so many things about my Dad has answered a part of the deep question:  “Where did I come from, why am I here and what am I supposed to do about it – what do I do next?”  It is a key to understanding:  “Why do I do, what I do?”   There is solace, peace, forgiveness and freedom in this.

I want to let you know you are very unique and, in finding out where you have come from, it will unlock secrets to the why of what you have done and where you have been in the past and how your inbuilt gifts and talents are a starting point – a roadmap for “where to next”.

Importantly, no matter how hard they try, people can never take away who you are – it’s imprinted in your DNA – your very own unique physical and “spirit”ual code.