You have come to believe the role you play. You are acting on a stage, and you have dreamed it is true. You forgot you are a mere actor on a stage. You forgot you are in costume. You forgot you have a life other than the one you are portraying now. You play a role, and you have come to think it is the real thing. You have come to believe that the dress you wear is you and that the stage you cross is where you are.
You have held on to this part you play. You are convinced it is you, when nothing could be farther from the truth.
Today you may play a child. Tomorrow an adult. Later an old man. And yet you are none of these. You are far greater than the evident.
Embrace the roles you play, and remember they represent only a role you play in your life. They are not your life. They seem like your life. You mouth your lines. You inhabit the stage. Other players play their parts. There are heroes and villains, and they may switch — and you may switch — according to the scenery and the particular play you are in. The audience boos or cheers, and you are your own audience too. Think well of yourself. Make sure you do. Cheer your heart on.
No matter what role you are playing, you can change it. If you are tired of the role you play, take another one. No one need give you permission. Give yourself permission. No one need suggest it to you. Suggest it to yourself. Try a little role reversal.
On the stage of life, the players change their roles all the time. A derelict becomes a saint. A poor man becomes a rich man. A fumbler becomes an adept tumbler. An acrobat becomes lame. Buildings are built, and buildings come down. Money circulates from hand to hand, and so do roles. It is the same sea you sail on, beloveds. Whether you are the captain or the one who swabs the deck, you are in the same boat on the same sea.
In fact, you are the writer of the play you are in. You are the watcher of it, and you are also the author, the producer, the director, stagehand, crew… What a marvelous play you are in! You are the conductor of the orchestra, and yet you don't know what music comes next. That's all right. Spontaneous is good. This is creative dramatics that you are embroiled in. You do ad lib a lot.
Are not the heroes and the villains perfect in the part they play? Isn't the role perfect for what it is? And who could play it better than the one who plays it? Just when he has a role perfected, he moves on to another.
If you have been a wanderer, now you can become a strider. If you have forgotten that you are a mere actor playing a part, you can step out of the part just as you would step out of a costume. If you have been playing games, you can enter a new game, or you can change the rules. You can enter a new world of your own making. You can pick up a paint brush. You can mix new colors. You can spill the paint, and use that paint. You can be the artist who takes a wider canvas and paint a bigger picture of himself.