Play Your Part Well
Remember that you are an actor in a play, playing a character according to the will of the playwright.
“Remember that you are an actor in a play, playing a character according to the will of the playwright—if a short play, then it’s short; if long, long. If he wishes you to play the beggar, play even that role well, just as you would if it were a cripple, a honcho, or an everyday person. For this is your duty, to perform well the character assigned you. That selection belongs to another.” - Epictetus
There’s a kind of exhaustion that settles in when you enter the labyrinth of high standards. You wake up determined to do your work well, but the weight of that promise accumulates over the days, over the years, until even excellence feels heavy on your shoulders. You don’t even want to wake up early anymore. Maybe you complain. And it’s not because you’re weak. But that doing your job- really doing it well- asks for courage and discipline every time. Even if you’ve taken bold steps before, you’re wise to know that the next one never feels guaranteed- it might also take more work than you expected. You still have that flicker of fear, that moment of hesitation, that snip second where you wonder if you’ll fail, if you’ll embarrass yourself, if this is the moment where you lose everything.
And yet, you move. You go again.
Sometimes doing my job well gets me used. People assume I’ll pick up the extra task, carry the emotional weight, hold the team together. I’ve had nights in the hospital where…
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