The Play

January 30th, 2017

You go to the theater, get a good seat and wait to be entertained.The movie starts and five minutes into the movie Superman and his arch enemy Lex Luther confront each other and Lex turns to Superman and says;
“How do you like playing the part of Superman?” and Superman turns to Lex and says;

“Not bad really. I thought I would develop this part a little differently but the director said to do it like this and so I’m warming up to the idea that it’s okay.Oh, by the way, how are your kids doing in the new school?”

You sit bolt upright in your theater seat staring incredulously at the screen. You look around to see if everyone else in the theater is as outraged as you. You turn to the person next to you and say; “What is going on? I didn’t pay to see two actors talking reality to each other. I want them to act. Not to be themselves! This is not entertaining!”

If you don’t like this scenario then you are going to love living on planet earth. It’s a place where everyone is playing a part. Of course everyone is the same on the inside but on the outside OMG! What a diversity of characters. 

Of course most people here are so good that they get totally into their parts and seem to actually become their part. After all, “the mask the actor wears soon becomes the actor” is an old maxim and it is very true on this planet. 

It all starts when we are born here and at first we smile quite a bit because we know who we are and we know the truth about everyone else too. Slowly we are taught to identify with our name and our family and our neighborhood, our school, our city, our state, our country, our religion or lack thereof, our socioeconomic level and a host of other features. So we start becoming our mask and not ourselves.

​​​​​​​We never feel quite perfect about who we are but we are sure who other people are. We judge them and ourselves. We try to add more to ourselves as if something was missing as if we would soon become whole if we found the missing pieces. Many of us never understanding that we need less and not more to feel complete. 

 The truth is that we are whole. We are complete. We are eternal. We have passed our audition and come to play a part in the greatest play in the universe. We have a great Director who knows how this develops and how we contribute to it all. We really don’t have to know it all. We just have to concentrate on our part by listening for direction. 

The secret to enjoying all of this is that every now and then when the day is done, we need to relax, let go, remember who we are and smile. We need to step back and watch the play with seven billion cast members and appreciate the Director and have gratitude for our good fortune to be picked to be in this crazy, funny, touching, heartwarming, action packed blockbuster. And above all else we need to always remember…it’s a love story.

Sundrops On Life -Better Thoughts. Better Days.

 Patrick McBride 
 www.PatrickInspires.com

 
Facebook – Sundrops On Life

 

The Play

May 13th, 2013

(You are Invaluable!)

“All you have to do is focus on what you want” they say. But what if you don’t know what you want. What if, regardless of your age, you don’t have a clue about what you want to be when you grow up? What then?

One of the first things you must understand is that “HELLO! Everyone does not operate out of the same instruction manual!” People without well defined goals are not lazy. People without a clear vision of where they are going are not lost. People who are treading water are not wasting their lives. Every person in every second of their life is living it perfectly. Stop judging others and stop judging yourself. You didn’t write the script for this amazing play. You have a part just like everyone else and it’s working just fine. The only thing you get to change is your attitude.

If you are sitting on your butt trying to figure out what to do then revel in the fact that you are sitting on your butt trying to figure out what to do. Don’t berate yourself for not having answers. Don’t berate yourself for not having “made it”. You may have a defining moment in your life that tells you what it was for or you may be changing hearts and minds long after you die just because you lived your life a certain way.

The shepherd out on the mesa does not have a poorer life than the CEO. Your wealth, your worth does not come from some amazing accomplishment or some great resume. Your worth, your wealth comes from being kind, from caring, from loving. Your worth comes from not criticizing yourself for not being “more”or for not being a “somebody”. Your worth, what you should be when you grow up comes down to one thing. Be kind to yourself and others. The Director will make sure your part is meaningful.

(c)2013 All Rights Reserved, Patrick McBride
www.PatrickInspires.com