A Glimpse into Jeff as a Person
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- Written by: Jeff Summers
"Who am I?" It is interesting how three simple words can spark such a diverse and sometimes enlightening thought process.
Throughout my life I have had many people who have asked for a definition yet have come away confused or frightened. It's not that I am that scary, it's just that most people are not prepared for the answer given.
I, myself, feel I am a relatively simple being who is trapped between realms of reality.
Based upon this theory, I can be anything to anyone at any given time. I am living proof that Darwin's theory works.
Above all I have accomplished, I am most proud that I have adapted. As with anyone, I am a product of outside influences upon the human mind coupled with pre-ordained gifts.
The four areas most responsible for who and what I am are education, family, experience, and philosophy. My life and personality is analogous to an off-road adventure. You can never be sure what is beyond the next turn and yet you are drawn to the unknown. There is little use turning around since you have already experienced all that you've passed.
I have attempted to include information within this section to provide you with a glimpse of who I am personally. To that end, I have included the following information on this web:
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| Education | Family | Experiences | Philosophy | Literature | Creativity |
Education
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- Written by: Jeff Summers
I always find it interesting to hear how education is defined in a person's life. There are those who feel education can only occur in the halls of higher learning. There are others that feel it comes from books and lectures. Still others define education as the experiences life bestows upon a person.
Our Family
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- Written by: Jeff Summers
There is probably no other influence more important to a person's life than the family. From the moment we are born, we are surrounded by family. In most cases, this family is mortal but in others, they are spiritual. We are never alone as we make our journey through life. There is not a day that goes by that I am not grateful for the influences my family has had in my upbringing and personality.
Experiences
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- Written by: Jeff Summers
In one's life, experience is often times the best teacher. Each day we are given a set of opportunities. How we interact with these opportunities will define positive and negative experiences. These experiences will be incorporated with other memories to determine one's value system which in turn defines your personality.
I have often pondered the concepts of destiny and fate and how they relate to our lives. I personally do not believe in these terms. I feel we each have the opportunity to be what we are based upon the decisions and the experiences we have. How else could we exercise our free agency if we were not given choices?
Philosophy
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- Written by: Jeff Summers
The study of philosophy means many things to many people. In its most basic form, it is man's investigation of the causes and laws underlying reality. Philosophy is typically based on applying logical reasoning to nature rather than relying on empirical methods to explain one's existance. The study of philosophy spans millennia and the theories of human thought are as diverse as man himself.
Literature
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- Written by: Jeff Summers
I can still remember when I began reading. Upon coming home from kindergarten the first day of school, I remember telling my mother how disappointed I was that we had not yet learned how to read. I truly felt we were behind schedule. My mother, who used to read to me each night before I went to bed understood my strong desire to read on my own. At that moment, she took it upon herself to help my education out by letting me read some of the stories at bed each night.
Creativity
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- Written by: Jeff Summers
Creativity is the ability to take innovative, new, or imaginative ideas and turn them into reality. It's funny that one line definition causes more confusion than any other trait that I bring up during professional or personal conversation. 
When I ask someone whether creativity is an important skill there is a long pause usually followed by some disagreement of whether creativity even is a skill. For most people it represents in inherit trait that you are either born with or you are not. In my experience, the majority of people I have questioned about this thought at best creativity was something you had when you were a child but as you aged it ceased to be something that had much use as an adult.
