What if I’m Not the Main Character?
While we are all protagonists of our own story, some of those stories are rather boring. What if life is a story, but I’m not the main character? That would explain a lot. (I certainly don’t have the wardrobe for it.)
What if my life, my very reason for existing, and the reason all my ancestors existed, was so I can give directions to the main character when they get lost — barely a speaking part.
Maybe I’m the teacher that takes an extra couple minutes to encourage the main character when they’re feeling down?
Maybe I’m the one driving the car when the main character gets cut off in traffic. (Oops! Sorry about that!)
Maybe I’m “person in crowd #57”.
Maybe I’m the person leaving the doctor’s office/store/mechanic’s shop as they come in.
Maybe I’m the person in line with the main character, who strikes up a conversation about nothing in particular.
Maybe I’m the random person they are talking to when they make the mental connection that solves the plot puzzle.
Maybe I’ll be the injured bystander the hero drags to safety.
Maybe I’ll be a side-kick or the person the hero turns to for a scientific solution.
Maybe I’ve already served my purpose and don’t even know it.
While we like to feel important, like we are the main character in some important story, odds are good that we are just a walk on, bit player. That the main character is someone else. Who? We can never tell, as none of the characters in a story seem to know who the audience is reading about.
Thus, we need to consider everyone we meet as a possible protagonist of an important story and act accordingly.
