If life is a stage, then you are the main character in your life experience, yes? And, if that is true, then you play a supporting role in the lives of many others.
What does this mean?
It means that each one of us has perhaps much greater impact on others than we have dared to imagine. The choices we make day in and day out can support those around us, can have loving impact. They can also be the source for another’s pain or struggle. While we cannot fully control how another receives the impact of our actions, we can and must choose how we act, how we choose to be in our supporting roles.
And we must realize that we are a supporting character on MANY stages! It is easy to see that we support our partners, our children, our colleagues and friends. Yet, there are people we will not ever meet in this lifetime for whom our choices have an indirect impact. Imagine the “friend of a friend of a friend” … how we are with our friend changes how our friend is with their friend, and so on. Perhaps it is the legacy we leave at the office when we retire, the legacy in word and deed and energy, that impacts those who come after us. Maybe it is our loving presence, our smile, in the check-out line that goes home with the tired cashier and becomes a hug for their special little child.
So I wonder:
For whom are you a supporting character?
What gifts and talents do you bring to the role?
If you saw yourself as a supporting character on the world stage,
what would you bring to your role in each and every scene?