Looking at Life as a Stage

In today's blog I want to carry on with the idea of our lives as roles we play on a stage.

Some individuals appear to have come into life with the idea that they are, "stars" and behave as though that is the case with their constant, "look-at-me" behavior. Unfortunately, with the form of child psychology developed around the '70s, (which promoted self-esteem in children based on just being alive) the world is swarming with children and adults that think they are entitled to think of themselves as "stars" who deserve to have everything handed to them. This is the primary social Programming currently; the result of parents/adults abdicating their roles as parents and teachers for ones of subjects and servants.

Even so, most individuals, by the time they are, "grown-up" seem content to play subordinate, or minor powerless roles throughout life, due to the overarching indoctrination and class/economic/ethnic stratification which presently exists in the Western World.

If you personally, however, decide to define your life as a stage, and examine what role(s) you are currently playing on that stage you may achieve enough perspective to make adjustments to a role, or roles. Doing so, would be an act of power.

As indicated in my recent blog entries, one, "actor" on a stage, can, by shifting the role/behavior they are playing/displaying, will automatically require some adjustments to be made by the other, "actors." This is because one can think of such a change as, "rocking the boat." "Rocking the boat," even if not on water, will quickly get everyone's attention.

If we don't like what is going on around us, we seem to automatically believe that the problem we are experiencing is with everyone else. Many examples of such problems can be read about in the letters to advice columnists. Frequently, there does appear to be a major behavior/role problem with others in the writers lives. These writers, however, are clearly looking for some easy way to solve the social problem they are having, rather than how they personally might make a change.

Another cultural saying, (or idiom) we have is, "taking the bull by the horns." The idiom dictionary defines this saying as, "to do something difficult in a determined and confident way, [as in] "Why don't you take the bull by the horns and tell him to leave?"

Unfortunately, rarely is there, "an easy way" to change our lives. Taking the easy way, in the short term, is to do nothing, which gets us nowhere. Thinking about our life's roles takes time and effort, frequently involving taking some risks. An added deterrent to doing the above examination, is that all potential change seems to trigger an immediate fear of danger in we humans.

On the other hand, after such an examination of the roles one is playing one could decide that the benefits provided by the roles/relationships should be appreciated more, and the change would to be to enhance them. I doubt there are many individuals playing roles in relationships, which would not benefit from an honest reevaluation of those roles.

With that I end these ruminations.

Shirley Gallup