Why all the world’s a stage

In this drama of life, it is important that we respect our co-actors and work together in peace and harmony

As many of us would have already realised, life is indeed a drama with each of us doing varied roles at various stages of our lives, that resonate with our personality and temperament. Every role has its own identity and purpose. But unlike in a staged drama, in life people are free to choose the roles they want to play. For example, you might have to get married in a drama, whereas in life you have a choice: you can either get hitched or remain single.

Hence, when people have the power to decide what role they want to play, it is imperative that they make wise choices that would result in positive consequences for themselves as well as to their fellow humans.

While role play on a stage can, in most cases, be a joyful experience, the real roles we play bring with them several challenges and problems that need to be overcome if we want to play our parts to perfection. God-willing, you are blessed with motherhood, but the real challenge comes after you deliver your bundle of joy, how you are going to make her blossom as a worthy individual.

It takes a lot of effort on the part of every person to strive and achieve excellence in their various roles. Today everyone has several opportunities to try out diverse roles, and it is up to the individual to choose roles of their liking, or roles that they believe would help them fulfil their needs, aspirations.

The choices

It is up to the discretion of the individual to take up a single role or multiple roles on the basis of their ability to execute it/them. A homemaker is no less worthy than a working woman; it is simply a choice made by the individual.

One must remember that what truly matters is not the number of roles we can take up, rather it is whether we are able to play each role to perfection and derive happiness and satisfaction from our performance. We should also be able to spread this happiness to those around us. In order to ensure this, we definitely need to introspect on our respective roles. For this, individuals need to take time off and reflect on the roles they perform, and ascertain whether they truly enjoy them.

It is necessary to ensure that we are fulfilling each role to the best of our abilities. And if we find a lag then we must make sure that we make up for the loss and rework our strategies. And unlike in a stage play, our real roles come with a lot of emotional bonding, which requires us to be more sensitive in handling the roles that we execute.

It also calls for more commitment and acumen as finally it is these roles that determine our inner happiness and well-being.

Once we take up certain roles they will remain with us for our lifetime; it will not be easy to shed them whenever we want to. You will, for instance, always be a parent to your child irrespective of whether you are married or divorced. So as a parent you need to play your role till the very end.

And given the myriad roles at stake, it is also sometimes possible that people choose roles that are beyond their ability. In such cases it is better we stick to the roles in which we are able to perform better as every individual has different strengths and capabilities. We can push the boundaries only to a certain extent.

In this drama of life it is important that we respect our co-actors and work together in peace and harmony. We must never gauge another individual’s role worth based on social, economic, political, racial or cultural factors as each role, however trivial it might appear to be, has its importance in its own space. We must always strive to prove our role’s worth and give back to society.

It is more likely that people would remember an affluent individual for his contribution to society rather than any empire he would have built for himself. So if we want to leave a mark even after we have left the stage it can only be through the good work that we would leave behind.

If each of us is able to comprehend our own roles better and contribute to society even in a small way, it would make a world of difference to future generations.

Source: The Hindu, 11-03-2017