And all the men and women merely players …
~William Shakespeare
I think W. Shakespeare pretty well realized most of the strengths and frailties of the human spirit. I also believe that most of us live at least a double standard and each of these standards comes with an assortment of faces we show the public, our friends, our enemies, and our families … and sometimes even ourselves. We play our roles as we see fit and as the whims of life tell us to. My own roles have been many and varied, I suppose.
I was thinking; it seems that in the last few years my role–never one of great importance–on life’s stage has become less pertinent as younger faces reciting shiny and important new words written in updated scripts have slowly replaced my time-worn and dog-eared pages. At the same time, I realized that I hardly used a script after I became used to my groove (rut?)in my continuing road of living and I doubt that most people do; life’s mature players simply ad-lib along. That is not to say I am comfortable with my journey; when a person becomes complacent they are asking for an awakening slap across the mouth from the people they most trust, not to mention the pains and sorrows their enemies have planned for them. Ad-libing is much easier than following a script; words and directions written for us, even if they were written by us, become stale and and we end up having to alter facts just to make them fit our view of the times. I am guilty of altering facts at times as I ad-lib them because in simple situations, saying a little white lie to ease me through is much better than having to face a big and complicated truth all at one time. My brain has learned a bit from my worn knees: small steps are less complex or painful to deal with than are huge strides. Older people are never suspected of knowing the truth about much, anyway.
Anyway, live your life on your terms but don’t forget that you really are on a stage and you should try to say or do something either silly or pertinent. One good aside can save a lifelong mediocre performance.
Have a good week.
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