My Role

Mr William Shakespeare very famously proclaimed that the whole world is a stage and we are the characters, each having a different role to play. The director, then, is Yahweh, or the intelligent designer, if you must. And like a play, some roles are insignificant, affecting only immediate characters. Others, however, stay in the limelight for a longer time: some other characters are then built around these central figures. An example of this would be George W. Bush. Interestingly, the roles you play then, do you choose them or are they pushed upon you? Certainly, we may be allowed to take on new roles and discard old ones, but would all this be your choice or that of the director?

But I digress. The whole point of this post is to make known the concept that sometimes, the roles of other people may seem much more exciting or delightful. We sometimes think that we can work towards it, but can we, really? Even in a race, someone has to be last. No one wants to be last, but somehow, there must be a last. Similarly, someone has to win. Everyone wants to win, but only one will achieve it. Yet, for every role, there is a tragic side as well as success. A winner has the pressure to maintain their performance while a loser is free of this.

And my role, as I see it, is one of being last. And I do not say that with an air of depression or resignation. I say it out of realisation. These past few years, my endless academic failures has really put me in a position to say "I know how you feel." In the same way that we look at African children and realise our fortune, people look at me and realise that they are not too bad off. It always helps to have the buffer of someone worse off. As for me, I do believe that no one else would be able to handle my role better than I do. Without realising the successful aspect of being at the bottom, people are driven to suicide and desperation.

And so, I do believe that that is my role at present. Perhaps the play still has one last twist: I finally do well, but with the knowledge of how failure is, I am not complacent but instead inspirational. That would be a dream, albeit cliche, ending.