Some people will tell you life is a battle.

Others will say life is a struggle.

You’ve heard it said: Life is a jungle.

War. Battlefield. Swamp. Bed of thorns. You’ve heard them all.

But then you hear those, a minority sadly, who says life is a dance. Or a song. Or a book. Or a canvas. Or a buffet.

All of these are metaphors, of course. They are ways of seeing the world, ways of understanding the world, means of interpreting reality.

But metaphors can be both effect and cause.

If you are convinced the world is a battlefield, then you approach it with guns and machetes and bombs. But if you think the world is a dance, then you come to it with a ball gown, a smile, and a spring in your steps.

Choose your metaphors wisely.