'To Be, Or Not To Be'

'To be, or not to be' is a famous quote in Shakespeare's 'Hamlet' , act 3 scene 1. The words are uttered by Prince Hamlet who is clearly caught in between a rock and a hard place. One school of thought suggests that Prince Hamlet soliloquize, whereas the other suggests that he is actually expressing himself to 'Ophelia'. Combined together, these two schools of thought offer us a deep insight to our vulnerable nature as human beings; it is human to feel vulnerable regardless of gender, ethnicity, race, status or even religion. For Prince Hamlet to think aloud, soliloquy, it is assuming that he is feeling furloughed, aloof, and far removed from any to whom he can have a heart to heart conversation with. In the case of the Prince talking to 'Ophelia', it suggests that although he has somebody to speak to, it does not make a difference to how he feels. Death and life are in contemplation at the highest of levels. In the midst of this contemplation the Prince comes to a conclusion that 'death' is not the end of our lives. How revelatory!!!

It is amazing how periodically in our lives we find ourselves in the same situation that Prince Hamlet finds himself in. We find ourselves discouraged, fearful, confused and at our wits' end because of the perceived magnitude of the situation we are facing. We find ourselves wanting to give up on our careers, business ventures, dreams, spouses, children, parents, family, life and even giving up on God!!! I would argue that giving up on it's own is not a sign of weakness; what you give up on is a test of your weakness!!! I would certainly encourage us to give up on our vices like hatred, selfishness, dishonesty, un-forgiveness etc. Somebody said and I quote 'the hardest thing there is is not to give up'. That is true of everything worth holding onto.

Today if you feel like quiting, remember that giving up on any virtues in life only adds to our vices. Death is the beginning of sorrow, not the end of it depending on how you died and after having accomplished what in one's lifetime. Pursuit is proof of purpose and purpose is proof of possibility. It is the fear of the non-accomplishment of these possibilities that haunt us day and night that force us to want to give up. To digress a little bit, the law of reaction states that for every force there is a reacting force therefore the reason why we want to quit is because the force of our purposes is so great that it requires the destruction of every other force working against it. Have you ever witnessed a whirlwind? It destroys whatever is in its way because it has gathered momentum beyond human control such that its purpose has to be fulfilled i.e. moving from point 'A' to point 'B'. Likewise, we also have to gather the tenacity to follow our dreams and purposes at all costs even in the risk of disappointing people around us. Focusing on our purpose and goals will always defeat the fear of failing or the failure of fear; according to the law of focus.

'You will win if you do not quit', and remember 'winners are made of failures who did not quit'. Whatever the question, 'to be' is the answer.