All the world's a stage

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.

~William Shakespeare "As you like it." 

My sister is pondering a quote tonight, and as the reason for this blog is to bring together different view points, I will throw my two cents into the world and see where they fall. The quote is this: "The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be." Is this quote accurate? Is honor something that can be faked? Are we all pretenders acting out our lives in a way we think others want us to? As for me... I agree with this quote.

I live by a simple motto that has always struck me as true: "Be the hero of your own life, don't let someone else play that part." Be the hero... I like that, I like to think that I can be just like the heroes that I used to stay up late reading about in books. The hero who faced down any obstacle, rescued every damsel in distress, and made sure he always did the right thing no matter what the cost. As I grew up I realized that my world wasn't the same as the worlds in my books, my world had a lot more gray, and not as much black and white. Unlike the heroes of my bedtime stories I could be tempted to do the wrong thing, I could justify my actions and make it seem like the right thing. There wasn't anything inside of me that rejected the gray areas, I didn't have an inner compass that always pointed to the right path. I wasn't born with any of those things, so I did the next best thing, I created them.

I created within me the Hero that I always wanted to be, someone who never gave up in the face of insurmountable odds, someone who fought for what he believed in, and someone who would shed his own blood helping those that needed him most. I pretended to be that hero, and when I did it became easier to reject the things I knew were wrong, lessened the temptation to take the easy road, because that's not what heroes did. At first it was an act, but after awhile it became who I am, I no longer had to think of what the hero would do in any situation, I acted without thought, and without hesitation. I became who I pretended to be. Sadly I can't say I have never done anything that I knew was wrong, or that I never took the easy road, I can say that I am proud of the hero that I have become. I overcame my disability instead of using it as a crutch and an excuse. I spend my days helping those that need me most, I give my blood, sweat, and tears, (sometimes literally) fighting the battles that they can not.

Can we become that which we pretend to be? I say yes, yes we can. Pretend to be a better version of yourself, and before you know it you will have become that person that you always felt you could have been.

Troy