To a certain extent, one does not choose the feelings that will arise in relation to one’s environment, because one does not choose the circumstances into which one is born, nor does one choose most of the defining events that the environment will produce over the course of a lifetime. Thus, affection and aversion, patriotism and anti-patriotism, a sense of belonging and alienation arise naturally. But all these feelings, if not understood, bear poor fruit. A conscious effort is needed to always relate them to the personal transformations one experiences, viewing them as the extremely important catalysts that they are. Such transformations sometimes run counter to the nature of that initial feeling; but they all teach something, and one must cultivate a positive attitude toward them all.