In the film The Truman Show, as the realisation that his whole life was made up sets in, Truman faces a choice: break free, or remain trapped in an existence manufactured by someone else.
It’s the same choice you face. The same choice I face. We can exist in a world constructed by the situations and circumstances of our lives, or we can live our real lives. Stark, I know, but true all the same.
The Truman Show captures this struggle—from blissful ignorance through painful awareness to decision time—with alarming poignancy. As Truman’s ignorance slips away, he asks, “Was nothing real?”
Cristof (the creator of Truman’s world) replies, “You were real, that’s what made you so good to watch.” Attempting to keep Truman, he adds, “There is no more truth out there than in the world I created for you. Same lies, same deceit, but in my world you have nothing to fear.” In desperation, he follows with, “I know you better than you know yourself. You are afraid, that’s why you cannot leave.”
But Truman does leave, and his parting message says it all: “I knew this show was fake from the start, it was my incredible acting that fooled everyone.”
“I knew this show was fake from the start.” Touched a nerve, maybe?
Deep down, we know that the world we’ve been trapped in is fake. So we fake it, too. And it is our incredible acting that fools everyone (including ourselves).
But the battle against reality never goes away. Because in all the lies that provide the framework of that existence—the lies that tell you that in this world you have nothing to fear, in this world others know you better than you know yourself—there is one thing that is true: you.
And because the real you, while hidden, remains alive, that sense that this is not how it is meant to be gnaws at your soul. Each time that sense threatens to reveal the truth, you find excuses to stay hidden in the lie.
Excuses about how you ‘are where you are’. About how you are ‘in too deep’ to climb out now. Excuses that convince you that you have ‘left it too late’ to bring about anything different.
And it’s the sense that “I’ve left it too late” that sticks a pin in the balloon that is the quest into your best self and creates a belief that any chance of becoming that person has disappeared..
Only, it HASN’T disappeared.
You see, it’s NEVER too late to become the person you are meant to be. To truly become the star of the show.
Sure, you may have more plates to spin and balls to juggle than you did before you got grown-up and responsible, but here’s the thing: when you discover who you REALLY are, spinning those plates and juggling those balls gets easier.
As the plate spinning gets easier, so your capacity to throw yourself into the adventure of becoming your best self increases, which makes spinning plates and juggling balls EASIER STILL. A virtuous circle emerges.
So, as you stand at the top of the stairs, facing that same choice Truman faced—do you choose existence, or do you choose life?
No one can make that choice for you—it is the choices other people made for you that got you here in the first place. But know this: you always have more choices than you think you have and, whatever you choose, it is never too late to live your real life.
