"get co-opted into the history of others"

"As i listen to the story, I realize that this is a good example of how easy it is to get co-opted into the history of others. Like George, so many of us walk into something new-a job, a neighborhood, a volunteer group, or a class-and buy into the stories of the people we join rather than program the types of experiences we'd most like to have. "

I am wondering if anyone would be kind enough to explain to me the meaning of the phrase of the title in this paragraph, the meaning of this whole paragraph would be prefered.