Big thanks to one great playwright and the Bard of Avon, the saying “All that glitters is not gold” has spread with an effect that belittles wildfire.

And bigger thanks to a purblind and undiscerning population, the didactic saying from the Merchant of Vernice has been heard, grasped and brilliantly misapplied.

It has tugged at my mind since God-knows-when that people, while adhering to this truth with the intent that it’d contain their greed, have instead, inadvertently worn it as a gossamer mask which dutifully shields their line of vision to countless opportunities that have passed by them and then away from them.

When William Shakespeare let this his powerful observation into the world, he probably didn’t foresee the finicky mind of men (if he did, i might forgive him). How far and well this truth has been established in this small blue ball we call earth, has provided arable grounds for its physical usage and application to be valiantly understood.

One way people understand it is the way Shakespeare intended itto be understood – that not all that breathes allure on the superficial are really alluring (sure, you can define it your way).

For all those who apply this original meaning to descry every “shiny thing” that comes their way, Kudos! Yay!

And the other way people understand it is what bothers me. And here it is: that all attracting thing/concept is surely the opposite of what itappears to be. Chai!

And when you begin to think that all that looks too good is bad, you know what happens? You miss the good altogether. And those “good” are opportunities.

And you know the thing about opportunities? Once you take too much time, they leave you. You can see how easy Shakespeare has made. . .sorry, we have made opportunities come and go while all the time we are pleased thinking our avarice for everything pleasant has neatly been curbed.

Shakespeare wrote, “Not all that glitters is gold,” but we act, “Allthat glitters is not gold,” See the mix-up? We’re so caught up in the paranoia that everything that sounds or looks too good to be true is definitely not true. That’s why you dubiously refused when that your uncle that hardly shows up for your birthday parties, decided on anodd day to give you a smartphone for no reason other than he just felt like it. And that was certainly why you were freaked out when your boss “of all people” offered to get you a visa to Dubai, so you turned itdown. Because “all that glitters is not gold.”

C’mon, wake up. Stop hurting yourself. You’ve done enough harm already by missing opportunities and moments that would never come back (so stop hoping). More opportunities will surely come, but would you because of a misplaced thought let them roll by? The best you should do is to go lengthily to secern which is which and whatis what. Anything but that is playing with fire. Start a mental re-orientation now and place that William’s saying the right side up, “Not all that glitters is gold.”

Is the whole thing still fuzzy?

It’d help then to remember this: Not all that glitter is not gold.

Written by Iwundu Wisdom