Thursday, November 14, 2013

Poem: The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost


Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
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 speaks about the lives we live and the multiple opportunities we have to make decisions. Each decision leads down different paths where new opportunities and challenges reside. Where one decision is chosen a sequence of other decisions becomes possible. So on and so forth throughout our lifetimes. 

In old age we often look back at the decisions we have made and can sometimes find that precise moment where we defined our lives. This is where the big decisions are made that change the patterns of life.  Each person has a few moments that have led them to where they currently stand.  Age brings better perspective. 

When you reach a fork in the road it is beneficial to look down as far as one can see. Sometimes you have to get out your binoculars and other times you simply have to take a giant leap and accept the results. Roads are definitive but it is possible that they reconnect in various places in the future. It is important to think critically where you want to go and start moving despite the well traveled paths others have taken.

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