“To be, or not to be, that is the question.”
Few lines in literature have resonated across centuries as deeply as this one from Shakespeare’s *Hamlet*. It is not only a literary question but a profoundly human one:
How do we continue when life feels heavy, uncertain, or difficult?
Recently, this question has become more personal to me than I ever expected.
For some time now, I have not been feeling well. My energy has been lower than usual, my body feels a bit off, and there are days when even simple tasks require more off a choice than they normally would. Nothing dramatic and yet enough to make me pause and reflect.
When we are healthy, we tend to take many things for granted. We plan, we act, and we move forward almost automatically. But when the body slows down, our perspective begins to change.
Suddenly, the small things become visible again:
A quiet morning.
A deep breath.
A walk in fresh air.
An honest conversation.
Things that once felt ordinary begin to carry a different meaning.
During this time, the words “To be or not to be” kept returning to my mind.
Not as a question about life and death, but as an invitation to reconsider what it truly means to live.
What it means “to be”
“To be” does not mean perfection.
It does not mean always being strong, productive, or unshaken.
“To be” means to accept life as it is.
With its highs and lows.
With its open questions.
With its light and difficult days.
It means staying present, even when we do not feel at our best.
Perhaps this is one of the most important lessons that difficult phases can teach us: life does not only happen on the good days.
It also happens in quiet moments.
In waiting.
In healing.
In slowly regaining strength.
A different kind of strength
We often believe strength means pushing forward no matter what.
But perhaps true strength is something quieter.
Allowing rest.
Listening to the body.
Not needing to fix everything immediately.
Trusting that difficult phases will also pass.
There is a quiet form of courage that is often overlooked:
The courage to get up even when you feel weak.
The courage to keep going without clear answers.
The courage not to give up, even when the path is uncertain.
Because courage is not the absence of doubt.
Courage is continuing despite it.
The meaning in small things
During this time, I have also learned how much life exists in small moments.
A smile.
A good conversation.
A moment of peace.
A sunset.
A day that feels slightly lighter than the one before.
Life does not gain its depth from one single grand meaning, but from many small moments that remind us that we are alive.
The psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl wrote that human beings can endure even the most difficult circumstances if they find meaning – often not in grand answers, but in small, concrete aspects of daily life.
A personal symbol
In 2020, I got a tattoo. For me, it was not a spontaneous decision, but something deeply personal.
At the time, I had the feeling – or rather a deep inner calling, that this symbol was “given” to me. Not in a purely rational sense, but as an expression of an inner voice or a connection to what I understand as my higher self and / or guidance.
Since then, this tattoo has remained with me as a reminder. Not of perfection or final answers, but of trusting myself and remaining open to life, especially in moments when it feels quieter or more challenging.
It has become an anchor for me. Quiet, personal, meaningful.
A personal realization
As I write these words, I am still not fully back in my usual state of strength.
But this period has taught me something important:
Health is not something to be taken for granted.
Energy is not something to be taken for granted.
And each new day is more than routine it is an opportunity.
An opportunity to heal.
To learn.
To grow.
And to begin again.
The decision for life
Perhaps “To be or not to be” is not a question that is answered once and for all.
Perhaps it is a daily choice.
The choice to turn toward life.
Despite uncertainty.
Despite the doubt.
Despite imperfection.
Perhaps this leads to a deeper truth:
My Tattoo “Amor Fati” “The Love of one’s Fate”
The philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche introduces the concept of “amor fati”– the idea of not merely accepting one’s fate but loving it.
Not in the sense of “everything is easy” or “everything is good”.
But in the sense of:
> Everything that happens belongs to my life – and I learn to embrace it.
The Roman emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius expressed a similar Stoic idea: we can not fully control life itself, but we can choose our attitude toward it.
And here, the circle closes.
What began as a personal experience of weakness and uncertainty becomes a quiet form of acceptance of life itself.
Not despite the difficult moments.
But with them.
Final thought:
Perhaps the answer to “To be or not to be” is not a rejection of life but a conscious turning toward it.
A quiet yes.
To what is.
To what has been.
And to what is yet to come.
*Amor fati – to love life not because it is perfect, but because it is your life.*