In the tenth grade I elected to take a drama class. I am not going to lie -- it wasn't because I had dreams of my own star on Hollywood Blvd. or because I was quirky enough to think I could be the next break-out Indie sensation. It was because this class was offered at the end of the school day, provided me with 5 credits towards my diploma, and I figured it would be mostly playing.
Last night I woke up in a sweat thinking about how WWI started and who was on who's side and went back to my high school education to piece together this information (want to go for a journey through my brain? It's like this 24/7). Thinking about high school led me on a path through various classes, people and scenarios. And I remembered the Unit in Improvisation that we had to learn in drama.
Remember the show "Who's Line is it anyway?" where the cast is given different scenarios and need to act this out while catching curve balls? The reason that show works so well and engages the audience is because the cast members need to be open and flexible to the changes and ideas presented to them. In my drama class, we learned that if you are static and refuse to go along with the story line, the audience loses interest quickly as your "play" is no longer entertaining.
Believe it or not, this may have been one of the best life lessons I learned in high school. Life is going to throw curve balls -- be it in the office, in your relationships, in pursuing your dreams. And if you refuse to be flexible and adapt to the new story line that is taking place, then you are going to stay in this rut and the world around you is going to lose interest and not continue cheering you on. So next time you and your buddies are hanging out, pretending to be skydiving and one of your friends decides it's because you are spies, go with it, grow with it and see where the story takes you.
PS. Thanks to Wikipedia, I was able to figure out my WWI crisis. Where would I be without the Internet?
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