Stages

“All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.”

This quotation by Jaques in As You Like It (Act 2, scene 7, 139-143) is one of William Shakespeare’s most oft-quoted passages.  Without going into a deep literary deconstruction, the passage clearly alludes to the fact that we humans are mere actors on the stage as we live our lives.  We play many parts during our lifetime, and we play them out on many stages.

Here are the stages some of us “play” on:

- Working on a factory line.

- Caretaking a special needs child.

- Teaching a class of students.

- Managing a small business.

- Participating in family life.

- Presiding over the most powerful nation in the world.

Few of us control the stage upon which we play.

Few of us could have predicted the “stage” upon which we play. 

All of us can choose to play upon that stage with aplomb and skill.

All of us can perform our role in a way that makes the world a better place (regardless of whether we’re playing to an audience of one, or 6,000,000,000).

Serving others well, regardless of the stage(s) we play on, is a very worthy undertaking.  And, like acting, our craft can be polished, revised, improved every day.

Preferably with intention and attention.