‘Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
(The Road Not Taken, Robert Frost)
There will come a time in our lives where we feel as though we’ve come to a juncture on this road of life where our decisions at that moment in time will ultimately determine the course of our journey for the rest of our lives. We’ve been told time and time again that we need to take the road less traveled but nobody told us which road was the one less traveled.
Being too focused on taking the right road has left many of us paralyzed at taking that next big step in our journey to life that we often forget that life is not a quaint little road where we only have two different diverging paths; rather it is more like a super highway.
(Image from ionlove.net)
This super highway of life –just like any other highway today has many different exits, speed bumps, road blocks and occasional road works for upgrading. In travelling on this super highway, we would meet interesting characters, some accommodating, some helping you get to where you are while others simply want to bully you out of the road.
However if we are too focused on simply driving that fastest, or taking the best exits to get to the most famous attractions on this super highway of life we tend to –more often than not forget to enjoy the sights, enjoy the company of people we are travelling with and even forget to refuel leading us to being burnt out by the side of the road.
In order to determine whether we are heading in the right direction we then need to ask ourselves three important questions as we go through the motions.
These three questions are:
1. Will I be happy doing this for the next three years?
No matter how good what we’re doing now looks on paper, but if deep within our souls we feel that what we’re currently doing is something we cannot stand, then the answer is no. It takes a huge toll on us to continuously do something that we are opposed to, not just mentally but also physically.
(Image from inspiyr.com)
2. Will I be a better person tomorrow?
How everyone views a good person is subjective, but there are common elements in each of this views. However the most important view of a good person would be our own view of what that version is. If we are not working towards that ideal of a good person by travelling down the road we are currently on then we may not be heading in the right direction.
(Image from sixbluepetals.wordpress.com)
3. Will this add value where it counts the most?
The one thing most people regret at the end of the road is usually not being able to make a lot of money or not being able to buy that one materialistic object but not being able to make an impact in the lives of those around us. We need to sit back and reflect on whether this direction we are heading towards will add value to areas in our life where we value the most. This is not to say that we should not pursue materialistic gains because we are at the end of the day human but so long as these materialistic gains do not consume our lives then the path we are travelling on has great potential to be explored.
(Image from fpu.co.za)
At The End of The Day
Even if the answer to all this questions above is a resounding ‘I have no idea’, being in a state of vulnerability gives us a great opportunity in finding ourselves. It gives us the ability to understand things about ourselves that we would never have been able to if we had a sure fire answer to every question.
Be Young, Be Passionate, and Be Free. Go out and make those opportunities being offered to us count and if in a few months down the road we feel that this choice is not for us, then don’t be afraid to make a U-Turn or exit onto a smaller connecting road because we will always have a choice.
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