How much are we influenced by our ancestors

How much are we influenced by our parents, grandparents and so forth. or is it in our genes?  Since becoming interested in my family history I have often asked myself this question.  I remember that I would think to myself that I would never act like my mom,  well that is not that case.  I find myself often times acting or saying things my parents would say to me, or I will see a young mother say something to her kids and ask her, did your mom say that to you and did you think you would never do that?  Their response to me has always been, yes and then we would share a laugh at how we once thought we would never act like our mothers.  I think its in our genes and how we were raised.  We often pass down to our own children and those generations that are younger than we are things our mothers and fathers taught us.   One can really see this if we examine the US Federal Census,  in one line my 3x great grandfather was a boot maker, his son my 2x great grandfather was also a boot maker.  His son was not a boot maker  because when he started a family, there really was no need for boot makers. But what happens if the generational line is broken by death or divorce.  My fathers father left him when he was a young boy, he was raised by his mother and his grandparents...his grandfather worked in a factory as a supervisor his mother went door to door selling mens shirts during the great depression.  So what did my father become?  He was in Sales and later a regional Sales manager and a Plant manager and now he owns his own Real Estate Company.  Makes one think, does it not... Is this always the case, no,  but I do think it happens more often than not.  Look at the Census,  what did your ancestors do for a living?  Make a spreadsheet listing where they lived and what they did for a living and did they following in their fathers footsteps,  did the daughter marry someone that was just like her father  or did she break the mold and go in another direction.  Family History is so much more than find documents and the such,  how did these individuals live, where did they live,  what was going on in the world at the time they lived and did this influence what they did,  History is so much more than wars fought by Kings and countries...what did your ancestors do during the great events of their time?  Next time you are driving down a road, think of those that came before you and the bones that you may be driving over,why did those  brave men and women leave the comfort of what they knew  and how they help to shape this great Country.