Like many people, I have become fixated on some of the clips found on Facebook that are categorized under the heading of Reels. I enjoy the Sports’ video clips, the music video clips, and I have found many of the America’s Got Talent/Britain’s Got Talent reels that are so often shown and/or shared.

With regard to the latter of those three topical reels, the clips from America and Britain’s Got Talent, many times the performers not only have talent, but also have a story to tell about having an affliction of some type, or a hurdle they have had to leap, to get to the stage where they are performing their particular talent.

Some of the stories the performers share are heartwarming, inspiring, sad, and amazing too, but as I watch many of them, I realize that almost everyone have a story to tell about themselves and many don’t share their story, possibly because they may not want any sympathies, or congratulations, or credit, or worries of sounding boastful or arrogant, or that they might just feel their story is no big deal. I disagree with that last part. Everyone has a story that someone might benefit from as they hear it.

It is understandable to have these feelings, and let them keep us from wanting to tell our stories, but as we watch the Entertainment Reels on Facebook and hear the stories, someone might feel the amazement of being able to overcome a situation. Someone might be inspired by someone else’s story. Someone (even if only one person), might be motivated in some way by someone else sharing an amazing talent in front of a large group of people, including 4 who will be judging them, which might be opening themselves up to a chance of failure and disappointment as well. Some of the large group of people who don’t set foot on a public stage in a theater of any sort, may be fearful of failing, or may be fearful of the attention, or embarrassment of something not good happening, or may not want to stare into the bright lights of possible successes gained if they do share their stories.

In William Shakespeare’s play, As You Like It, the most famous speech delivered is the Seven Ages of Man speech, where the character Jaques in Act 2, Scene 7, begins that oration with the words, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” It might be interpreted that these words are saying that almost everything we do in this life is a performance of some kind, and that we are all performers sharing our talents with all those who are around is in any walk of our lives. Maybe many of those roles we play are not surrounded by theater walls, with organized rows of seats, adorned with bright, and/or colorful, lights, and though we may feel like we’re constantly being judged for what we do and how we do things, the only judge we really have to worry about is that person who looks back at us in every mirror whom we face each day in our life.

If we fear all that may come in taking a risk to share our talents, our stories, our successes, and even our failures, we end up silencing ourselves to someone who may be able to take something from another’s talents, personal life lessons, courage, trials and tribulations, and what it takes to still set foot on life’s stage and share our real-life script, lyrics, or lessons with those in our daily life audiences.

Some people feel that once something has happened, it is over and we need to live in the present and then move on. My favorite performer once sang the lyrics of one of hits titled, Coast of Carolina, and a couple lines from that song, which may touch on that idea are:

“I can’t see the future but I know it’s coming fast,

It’s not that hard to wind up knee deep in the past…”

Yes, maybe we do get wrapped up a lot in the what happened back then, but maybe we can learn how to take some of that past to help us in the uncertain, yet fast approaching, future. Maybe someone else can take positives of others’ stories and adapt them to help themselves somehow, and look at someone else’s not so positive aspects of their lives which had some usability, and just need a tweak or two and then they might be helpful to others. So, don’t consider yourself getting or being knee deep stuck in a cement-like past, but maybe, instead, use that cement to help someone else pave a positive direction for themselves.

Everyone has a story to tell. Some are happy, some are sad. Some are entertaining, some are inspiring. Some are helpful, some are not. Some are motivating, some are just feel-good stories that help us realize that life is good a lot of the time. So, you don’t need a theater, you don’t need a stage, you don’t need Simon Cowell and his panel to judge what you can do and why you are doing it, just be proud of who you are, what you have done and can do, and don’t be afraid to celebrate you and your talents.