[media-credit name=”Courtesy of Nick Baladjanian” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]Anger, revenge, and bitterness deeply affect the outcome in Shakespeare’s tragedy play, Hamlet. The main character, Prince Hamlet, is weighed down by a cluttering of emotions after he learns his mother married his father’s potential killer.

Hamlet faces the ultimate consequence of death, due to his paranoia and twisted mindset. Not only did he end up dead, all but one of his loved ones suffered as well. Yet if Hamlet made different choices during this critical time, the outcome could have been positive, or at least less tragic.

I can understand how Hamlet felt because I have had mishaps throughout my life that have made me feel left out and hurt. I’ve had numerous experiences when plans were made and no one came through because something better came up for them and I was left in the dust; I felt used and betrayed just like Hamlet.

When facing these kinds of situations, I’ve learned that honesty usually turns out better than lying and sneaking around. I believe lying is only a temporary solution to a problem; usually it will backfire in the future, or my conscience may eat away at me for internalizing the deceit.

At the outset of the story, the ghost of Hamlet’s father triggered his first, and most powerful, emotional instinct. Instead of being rational, Hamlet behaved in a way that made his friends and family accuse him of becoming crazy. He never questioned whether the ghost’s words were the truth or not, or if it was even a demon or an angel. He behaved childishly by becoming impatient and not trying to think things through. If he had acted in the opposite manner, death would not have been as common; open and honest confrontation could have avoided even more hurt.

Hamlet even ignored advice from his best friend, Horatio, during the whole play when he was the only one who really cared for him.

Even though the situation in Hamlet is most likely irrelevant to this century, we all still deal with the same feelings. When we have strong emotions, our first reaction isn’t always the best one. Most of the time, our minds get flooded and can possibly become our own worst enemy.

As followers of Christ, we are commanded to be honest and not try to deceive God, others, or ourselves. Staying away from situations that could tempt or trick you can make it easier to not struggle with deceit or anger in the first place. Though it’s unrealistic to think we can avoid every one of these instances, prayer and intimate discussion with someone trustworthy can be an encouragement to do the right thing, instead of relying on emotional instability.

When I face these kinds of situations, my mom is the one person I feel I can turn to for emotional and physical support when I am facing a problem in my life. As I, and many others, head off to college, we need to make sure that we have all of these support systems intact, because we will continue to face many new and challenging situations as we enter this next chapter of our lives.

We will always have friends, but the challenge is to keep the true friends close and use them for support through rough times.

Nick will be attending Biola University next fall and is considering to major in business.

For more opinions, read the March 19 article, COLUMN: Senior resolutions.