Desperate or Heroic?

“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation,” wrote Henry David Thoreau in his 1854 book Walden. One-hundred-fifty years later it may still be true. However, that quote does not help me know what to do about it.

I prefer to say, “All people lead heroic lives.” This is not a denial of the pain and loneliness in real lives. Instead it is an affirmation of all lives; the pleasant and the petrified. It reminds me, too, that each person is the leading actor in their own reality; they are not mere supporting cast for the movie of my life. (That should take my narcissism down a notch or two.)

Some people may lead lives that are truly heroic; while others may only appear heroic to me. I can’t tell the difference. On the other side of the coin, some may be suffering at depths I can’t fathom; while others may look pathetic but possess greater resources of mind and money than I. I can’t tell the difference… and I suppose it doesn’t matter.

Just as work expands to fill the available time, so do joy or despair. Any individual I question tells me their life is overfull! And it’s generally overflowing with whatever they continue to focus on and expect. Some speak from hospital beds about God’s blessing. Others fret about the future while signing another multi-million dollar tract of houses.

The decision still lies within the individual. What I allow to fill The Gap determines the quality of my life. It also determines the quality of my responses to the random events of life. But more sobering, it also determines what will pass my filter to become permanently lodged in my memory as one more proof that “This is just the way life is.”

When I think of all people leading heroic lives, either victoriously or tragically, I am able for a moment to watch “their movie”, and to dimly sense the contents of their Gap. Then I am usually more inclined to applaud their successes, mourn their losses, and encourage them to aim higher.

(The masks are from http://www.lcsc.edu/ )