Some relatives of mine recently went to see a Broadway show. When I asked them how it was, one of them replied “Lousy story line, great performance. WOW!! What a great life lesson was revealed in that casual comment.

Can’t Control the Story Line

What lesson did I glean from this? The lesson is that we really can’t  control the story line that we are given. Some story lines are great, while others are not so great and everyone gets a mix of both. Some events make us sing and some make us want to curl up and pull the covers over our heads.

But the point is, we have absolutely no control over the story line (for the most part) but we do have control over the performance that we give! How liberating! Even if we’re given a lousy story line, even if our story doesn’t end up being what we thought it would be – we can still give our best, we can still give it our all!

So let’s say your kids aren’t who you thought they would be – give them your best. Didn’t see everything when you were dating your husband? Give him your best. Your house isn’t what you dreamed it would be? Make it as beautiful as you can.

 We Can Give a Great Performance

It seems like happiness comes when we take the focus off what we’ve got, and we put the focus on the performance that we give. And that’s where the freedom comes, because then our life is not dependent on the circumstance but rather our actual view of our circumstance… AND THAT is always in our control.

The truth is that life is generally not what we thought it would be and full of disappointments but our world view can make a difference in the way that we perform.

Showing up for a great performance, even when it’s not the show that we would like it to be, can even change the way that we feel and fill us with gratitude for the life that we have.

With that said, you know the famous saying “it takes a village to raise a child.” Meaning even though we’re giving great performances we don’t have to go it alone. It takes lots of different people to raise a child and it takes lots of different types of support to be able to give our best performance.

Don’t Go It Alone

Life ain’t easy and we weren’t meant to weather all the storms alone. Call up that friend or relative, speak to your mentor or counselor; get the help you need. That will give us the strength and fortitude to tackle the challenges that come. “Better together” happens when we have someone share the burden. Sharing helps us pick up the pieces and move on.

But the main thing is the way we view life’s challenges. Taking charge of the performance, being there for those that need us is what makes it all worthwhile.