People trying to control their world

I am old enough now to have observed a number of dysfunctional families & earmark a key characteristic -- they all rely on denial.

So with that said, please allow me a few questions for clarification.

* Are circumstances always our driver?
* Are we molded from without or from within?
* Do we choose to become what we are--or are we forced into that becoming?
* Are we victims, or masters?

As a young man, I had always assumed that people were only victims to calamity and that their response to it was not their fault or of their choosing. But life has taught me otherwise.