All the world is but a stage, and we are merely it’s players
What was he really thinking and feeling when this was written all those years ago? Was it a bleak, morbid statement of how we have limited control over our destiny, that a "higher power" is just playing with our lives, writing a script for us as he/she sees fit?
Something I have been contemplating over the past year and a half is "where will I be at 22? at 27? at 30?" Almost as if I don't have a choice... waiting for an apple to fall on my head and the realisation to hit me - YES that's what I am supposed to do with my life!
I continue to struggle with the idea of where I am going, the direction, the colour of the footpath beneath my feet, whether I should turn right or left as seen in every Disney movie... is it down the dark, dismal fearful road or through a field of pansies and pixies?
Is life a struggle - do we only know we are going in the right direction if we are struggling to get there and then when we reach the other end we have "learnt so much" and "changed/grown"?
While this is not a promo for AIESEC it is amazing how joining this organisation in my final year of university transported me to a changed life, new boundaries and different opportunities.
In March 2005 I joined AIESEC knowing that in December 2005 I would be a graduate of a B. Commerce, going on an AIESEC exchange in London, working for PWC and then returning home in December 2006 with just enough time to apply for a graduate job in Deloittes in Adelaide or Melbourne. No questions asked... I had finally after 3 years created a plan - a 5 year plan to be exact. I knew where I was going, who would be there with me in 5 years time and how much money I would be earning, right down to the colour shoes I was wearing on January 8th 2007.
I then attended my first conference where I realised not only had I joined a cult of people who danced like no one was watching, drank like there was no tomorrow and chanted like Red Bull crazed teenagers. But also I realised AIESEC consisted of people who continue to challenge your views, your ability to "step up" and you have an environment for making lifelong connections with people in a single hour. Since April 2005 I have never questioned my actions, my plans, my future so many times in my entire life previously. Do I:
> Go to Africa and work on a HIV/AIDS project
> Travel through South America for 6 months backpacking
> Work in a bar in Canada for 6 months and travel through Alaska and Nth America
> Backpack around AUS
> Move to Melbourne and get a job - settle down, become a corporate whore
> Volunteer my time o'seas or at home
> Do a traineeship in Bangladesh, Dubai, Greece, Europe or China?
So that is why I ask Shakespeare's question... after returning from APXLDS last week to have only more questions, fewer answers, more passion, less pessimism and even more of a limited idea of where I am heading in life... I wonder do we really ever have control? Is there a point to planning? Goal setting yes... but are we merely players, chess pieces being moved around the board based on the actions of our opponents?
To have such lack of direction and yet such passion for wanting to make an impact in certain areas of my life and others is so difficult and challenging. But keep in mind while I say all this it is not about giving up...it is about fuckin working through it, living it, treasuring every second and not overanalysing situations. After all as a very wise friend said to me once...
Life is a journey...Not a destination
Something I have been contemplating over the past year and a half is "where will I be at 22? at 27? at 30?" Almost as if I don't have a choice... waiting for an apple to fall on my head and the realisation to hit me - YES that's what I am supposed to do with my life!
I continue to struggle with the idea of where I am going, the direction, the colour of the footpath beneath my feet, whether I should turn right or left as seen in every Disney movie... is it down the dark, dismal fearful road or through a field of pansies and pixies?
Is life a struggle - do we only know we are going in the right direction if we are struggling to get there and then when we reach the other end we have "learnt so much" and "changed/grown"?
While this is not a promo for AIESEC it is amazing how joining this organisation in my final year of university transported me to a changed life, new boundaries and different opportunities.
In March 2005 I joined AIESEC knowing that in December 2005 I would be a graduate of a B. Commerce, going on an AIESEC exchange in London, working for PWC and then returning home in December 2006 with just enough time to apply for a graduate job in Deloittes in Adelaide or Melbourne. No questions asked... I had finally after 3 years created a plan - a 5 year plan to be exact. I knew where I was going, who would be there with me in 5 years time and how much money I would be earning, right down to the colour shoes I was wearing on January 8th 2007.
I then attended my first conference where I realised not only had I joined a cult of people who danced like no one was watching, drank like there was no tomorrow and chanted like Red Bull crazed teenagers. But also I realised AIESEC consisted of people who continue to challenge your views, your ability to "step up" and you have an environment for making lifelong connections with people in a single hour. Since April 2005 I have never questioned my actions, my plans, my future so many times in my entire life previously. Do I:
> Go to Africa and work on a HIV/AIDS project
> Travel through South America for 6 months backpacking
> Work in a bar in Canada for 6 months and travel through Alaska and Nth America
> Backpack around AUS
> Move to Melbourne and get a job - settle down, become a corporate whore
> Volunteer my time o'seas or at home
> Do a traineeship in Bangladesh, Dubai, Greece, Europe or China?
So that is why I ask Shakespeare's question... after returning from APXLDS last week to have only more questions, fewer answers, more passion, less pessimism and even more of a limited idea of where I am heading in life... I wonder do we really ever have control? Is there a point to planning? Goal setting yes... but are we merely players, chess pieces being moved around the board based on the actions of our opponents?
To have such lack of direction and yet such passion for wanting to make an impact in certain areas of my life and others is so difficult and challenging. But keep in mind while I say all this it is not about giving up...it is about fuckin working through it, living it, treasuring every second and not overanalysing situations. After all as a very wise friend said to me once...
Life is a journey...Not a destination
4 Comments:
Goodness me, that's rather DnM for a second blog posting!
Good to hear all goes well.
Actually I thought I would post a response to your posting.
Yes the hardest thing of all is choosing where you want to go. But it gets easier from there. Imagine yourself on your deathbed and find out what you hoped to have done by then.
Don't be a dilettante - choose one thing and go with it.
I understand your dilemma - how is it possible to have the maximum impact possible in the short space of time that is our life? It seems the easiest thing to do is just hang back and wait for the direction to come and hit us. But it will never come like that.
For me, I thought 'what is the greatest cause in the world'? The greatest cause in the world is the cause of world federalism - the creation of a single global, democratic state. This would ultimately signify the end of all war and the power to tackle all global problems. Working towards this, through UN reform, this is what I would love to see before I die.
What is the consequence of choosing a single path? Focus and clarity. We see things that we could never have seen; things that will help us on our way towards achieving it. But we need to train our minds first to find that single obsession, only then is it able to see clearly.
All the best in finding that obsession; I guess I could summarise this whole posting by saying you need to choose a path, not let it come and hit you. Because it never will.
Hey, I just felt I had to share what I was thinking. I've been through a lot of thought myself about this in the last three weeks and I find that the easiest thing is to find what you want. The hardest thing is to keep yourself from straying off the path of doing what your heart is telling you.
Life really is too short to worry about what other people are thinking about you. My advice - you already know - right now, what you WANT to do the most at this time in your life- go for it.
Hey Chloe!
AIESEC is not a cult. =P Just wanted to say I am inspired by the impact the organisation has had on you. You're awesome!
Cheers,
- Daz
Post a Comment
<< Home