To Be or Not To Be Parody Soliloquy

As a senior in high school we had to read about Hamlet. Our teacher made us write our own version to his soliloquy for "To be or not to be". When I wrote this poem I wanted to express the feelings of someone who is going though anxiety.

To Be Anxious or Not Be Anxious

By mz

To be anxious or not to be anxious- that is the question:

Whether' tis easier to be at peace

And let confidence fill these thoughts

Or have your body shake and heart race

And by nervousness, never enjoy each day.

To doubt, to listen to the voices in my mind-

No more- and by worrying I face

The constant reminder of the voice in my head

That I hear each day-

Tis' an illness

That is hard to face.

To be anxious, to be at peace-

To be at peace perhaps like a dream. Ay, there's the problem

For along the way what might we lose

When we make the anxiousness overpower you

Must this be a never ending fight

That's the thought

That makes me tremble in fear

For who wants this anxiousness fear

The tossing and turning all night

The fear of knocking on that door

The fear of asking for a napkin alone

The uneasiness that builds up inside

The second guessing yourself each time

And the mask you put up

To hide what you are trying to deal with inside

When the anxiousness builds up inside

When will you know when it will stop?

Who would handle our obsessive thoughts,

To fear and worry about the little things,

But hardest part is missing out on the things that everyone does

While we stand unable to express ourselves

Wishing we could be at ease like everyone else

Is it worth all that anxiousness

Or are we too afraid of finding peace within ourselves?

Thus missing out on all the fun things we did not say or do

And thus regret fills our insides and devours the joy

Is that what society has turned to

And the chatter that people say about stress getting in the way

With all this anxiety that holds us hostage in our heads 

And we can either choose to let it be or let it break free.

I hope you enjoyed my own version of Hamlet's soliloquy, I had to preform it in front of my class. I was nervous at first I even started shaking and I read it fast until I realized what I was reading and towards the end I was able to calm myself down. I wasn't going to let being nervous take over what I was trying to express. I hope this has helped anyone with anxiety, you are not alone its time to let you anxiety break free.