How far can your upbringing be an excuse?

I think your upbringing can only be an excuse up to a point. Of course, where you grow up affects you. There are things you had no control over. But I think there comes a point when you have to start raising yourself. At least, that is how I try to live. I don't want the environment I grew up in to own the rest of my life. I think we can keep changing. We can keep becoming someone new. For me, the person I eventually have to face is always myself. I can lose money. I can fail. I can give up sometimes. But if I decide I'm going to live, I want to actually live. There are so many things I can't change — my environment, my parents, my past. So instead of spending all my time there, I'd rather spend it trying to make something inside me a little better. That's just how I see it.