“To be or not to be”

Sometime, somewhere long back, this quote or phrase, as you may call it, “to be, or not to be“, delved deep into the convolutions of my brain & entrenched itself in it. May be coz of its utter simplicity & omnipresence, just like, “gone with the wind”. Since then, it has been my most favorite quote. Infact, I feel its status should be upgraded to as an adage. “To be, or not to be”, comes from ‘William Shakespeare’s ‘The tragedie of Hamlet, prince of Denmarke‘,1602. Its the starting line of a soliloquy spoken in the play by Prince Hamlet emphasizing how wretched his life has become, his indecisiveness & absolute dilemma contemplating revenge upon the murderers of his father. I could never fully comprehend the whole meaning of this line that Shakespeare intended to put across. Quite a bit of reading & learning in this area, helped me garner enough to reach a conclusion for myself about the meaning, & here it goes, “our state has become such helpless & wretched that, complete non-existence may be decidedly preferable to it”. To be, or not to be??…..question is, whether to suffer in silence, the dire consequences of misfortune which can eventually lead to death(suicide) or to stand up, stoic & resolute, take arms & fight the misfortune, tragedy, failure, catastrophe or whatever. There are many other parallel contemporary views to both “to be” & “not to be” parts. This is mine & i believe many shares the same. This question often arises in some crucial, helpless, hopeless junctures of our lives(times when even suicide seems to be a viable option) & that’s why I said its omnipresent. But mostly, such phases happens to contribute the most to our self improvement & mental enhancement !!

Now that was perceived from the vantage point of context in the play. Here, I want to share with you all a meaning I myself formulated for my favorite phrase. A meaning with which I maximum try to conform my daily doings. Simply put, “whatever undertakings you sign on, either give your 100% or nothing at all”…..whatever your actions may be, be it speaking, doing a work or project, reading, teaching, singing, loving et al, you have to either commit fully with your concentration, focus, diligence & energy or step back & never take it at all.

‘To be, or not to be’.

The reason I find behind this is preserving the integrity, dignity, sanctity & value that is at stake of the subject involved in the undertakings & of course, of yourself. I believe each & every entity in this universe, has its own individual space of existence, integrity, dignity & sanctity. It should be well respected by us & by doing so we should reflect the same virtues upon ourselves. In your doings, strive to reach the zenith of perfection with your abilities, thereby enhancing the integrity & dignity of both yourself & the done thing. Otherwise, relinquish it at the beginning itself & help preserve whatever is left of its’ & yours’ integrity & dignity.

Awed at the fact, that, in what all myriad ways a simplest of simple phrase can be given a meaningful form. Still not able not to garner the phrase completely & continuing to delve deep to explore the potential meanings. Hope you could find sense & meaning, if any, from the post while I feel a lot relieved & weightless…..hope the post could be atleast in a very small way, be food for thought, before you sign up for your next endeavor. Till then……

Love

Vishnu Sivaprasad