“Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.“

-William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act V, Scene V.

Let’s be honest. As human beings we have a breathtaking sense of self-importance and arrogance about our place in the world. Now, before you unleash your most vehement arguments on me, please hear me out.

Life and Acceptance

Have you ever looked at a tiny wildflower and wondered at its extraordinary perfection, in its symmetry and colors? Have you looked at a bird about to take flight, its wings poised to lift it upwards almost effortlessly? There is a sense of knowledge and acceptance in nature, about what it is and the limits of what it can do. Living creatures of every species are provided with what each of them needs to live, grow, procreate and die, in their respective environments.

Does one species look at another species in envy or jealousy, coveting what they do not have? Or does each creature use what it is provided to live its cycle of life? We know that survival is the main goal and purpose of every living creature on Earth, except for one.

Humans.

Sound and Fury

Human beings, in my eyes, seem to be the only species who want to rise above survival mode and soar higher and higher. We desire more and more, amassing more than we need. We push down the weaker ones, clawing our way to the top. Sometimes we are willing to totally sacrifice others, so we can succeed.

Along the way, we might be told that our actions are for a greater good. That the revenge we seek, the ‘wrongs’ we want to right are in the name of something noble, even divine. But, let us be clear. If at every step, we are deafened by the sound and fury around us, we might be misled and go down the wrong path. Misled by the voices of people shouting louder than the quiet whisperings of conscience. Without the quiet whisperings of our individual consciences, we are lost.

The Quiet Voice

Our inner voice, call it God, intuition, the voice of peace, is what we each need to seek. Because, let’s face it, if we need to face the consequences of our choices, let them truly be our own choices. The tales told to us by others need to be fact-checked, researched and checked again.

For we should not be like lambs led to slaughter, just because we were stirred up by the the sound and fury. Let us not be motivated by greed or be swayed by those who secretly thirst for power over us.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, we each enter the afterlife alone, facing that eternity in whatever way we believe https://sues.life/2020/08/01/captain-of-my-soul/. Let that moment be one when each of us knows that we made those choices quietly, alone and that our choices in our soul journeys were not marred by the voices of others. That we each knew what we were doing. Clear-eyed.

And in doing so, we will be safe in the knowledge that our lives were not mere noise, sound and fury.