“To be, or not to be: that is the question…” — Hamlet, William Shakespeare
In the famous Shakespearean quote: “To be, or not to be,” Hamlet is asking a fundamental question about existence — whether we should choose to exist given the trials and tribulations of life, the ups and downs, twists and turns, and all the heartfelt and heartache that accompanies the human experience. Hamlet focuses heavily on the seemingly, pointlessness of living through the rough stuff compared to choosing the unknown of death.
Heavy, I know.
Ultimately, though, the answer is yes. Yes, it is worth choosing to exist. But is mere existence enough?
What if…what if, we take Hamlet’s question and reframe it?
You see, choosing mere existence isn’t such an enticing prospect, right? The hamster wheel or perpetual Groundhog Day of life wears us down.
And quite frankly, living wholly uninspiring, unfulfilling lives isn’t what we are built for nor is it what we are here to do. Unfortunately, so many of us, at one time or another, have found ourselves merely existing while others have made mere existence a way of life. One may be able to argue that mere existence is a form of living death.
Then, how do we create lives that inspire us to live fully?
Well, how about, we start going beyond questions of mere existence to ask ones concerning our deep personal development like —
Who do I choose ‘to be{come} or not to be{come}’ as I move through each moment of my life and make each choice both big and small?
We are human BEINGS after all. As human beings, we are in a perpetual state of continual becoming and the beauty in this is that we get to determine the WHO that we become each and every day. Once we get clear on WHO we want to be{come}, figuring out WHAT we do and HOW we do it, or taking what I call, inspired action, becomes a whole lot easier.
Neal Donald Walsch explains “The deepest secret is that life is not a process of discovery, but a process of creation. You are not discovering yourself but creating yourself anew.”
So, TO BE OR NOT TO BE, really does become the question.
(First publised on Medium, 26 March 2019)