PLAY MANY PARTS

‘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 (from ‘As You Like It’) The Bard’s drama dialogue refers to changing roles played across the biggest script of all – LIFE – an account of the highs and lows, of talents and choices, of careers and goals. So often we are mesmerized by self-absorbed dreams and fears of what lies ahead that we are unable to see beyond the illusion. We watch the smoke and mirrors and special effects – floods, famines, wars, epidemics - that recur in our world, but we move on playing one track roles within a self-centred comfort zone. We do have the free will to choose at every moment how we will script and play out each scene. We determine if the script is going to be a tragedy or a comedy. Every different decision makes a different scenario play itself out. This feature gives us the illusion of chance, chaos, and even fear –components of any good script. After all, the script doesn’t make the actor, the actor makes the script. Our attitude toward the roles we play is everything. The best players demand challenging roles. The best performers play many parts that include not only scripting, directing and performing; but also supporting, responding, appreciating and cheering other roles. For the world to be better as larger stage, we must be better at playing many parts. We must BE BETTER at playing many parts… Every stage requires players with a large heart! - Pravin K. Sabnis