To Be Or Not To Be - That is Not The Question
Hamlet's soliloquy made me pensive
To be, or not to be - that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And by opposing end them. To die, to sleep -
No more - and by a sleep to say we end
The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to. 'Tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep -
To sleep - perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub,
For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause.
Hamlet - William Shakespeare
The bard's words keep pulling on my emotions every day - to be or not to be, that is the question.
Do I accept my fate gracefully;
Or do I fight it like a Greek tragic hero,
Knowing that, in the end, all fights are futile.
Do my fate decide who I am,
Or do I choose my future with my love, life, and work?
Life without suffering is no life at all, the wise say.
But tell that to the person who is suffering!
Every day he fights - his emotions, his baser self, his natural propensity to love to live to play, and to laugh,
- To fight his share of the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.
To show the world his bold and sane face! Though his heart bleeds, and he cries silently,
Every day he decides whether to sleep that dreamless sleep or to awake and face another dawn, another day to take arms against his sea of troubles, til the fortune smiles.
He does not have the time to philosophize like the Prince Of Denmark. That is an indulgence he cannot afford.
For he must keep the show on till the curtain falls to the applause in a packed house but without an encore.
Feel free to send me your comments. I write so that there is an exchange. Do not hesitate to subscribe to my blog. Feel free to forward this post to those who may like reading it.