My Favorite Poem of All

The Road Not Taken

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 marked 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.

Robert Frost


  I loved this poem from the first time I heard it, and as I became a young man it began to mean even more to me. Over the years, I have  most certainly come to understand and fully appreciate its depth of meaning. Whether in work or play, in love or friendships, life is a yellow wood of diverging roads.
What is the wise choice? What is the heart choice? What will the result of those choices be?

Well I understand the danger of following ones heart when conventional wisdom would suggest an altogether different path. But, often the choice of the uncommon path has brought greater happiness to me.  I know many prefer not to take risks in life decisions. It is easier, and perhaps "wiser", to take the path trodden down by a majority of others before you. But I have found that anything worth experiencing comes with some risks attached. And I have seldom found the majority to be a wise authority.

There are career or work choices in life. It is only natural for us to want a guarantee of stability or security in our lives.  But some things that most people turn to for stability and security, I have  found to be drudgery and suffocation. What others have strongly felt was safe and solid choices,  became dull and mind numbing rigor for me. To paraphrase Henry David Thoreau, If you love what you do for a living, you'll never have to work a day in your life.

Oh, I have tried at times to be that person who could settle into one thing and be contented to live within that constraint. It would have saved me (and others too) hurt at times if I could have kept myself there. But I couldn't, and in the end, I would have missed  the adventure in a thousand different things if I had.

I have always felt that it is not enough to just be alive, I want to really live. Seize each day, and what it brings, and wring every last drop of joy and experience from it. Life is joy and sorrow interwoven. It is rain and sun, storm and beautiful sunsets. Every day of life is a wonder.

It has not always been the wisest choice to take the other road, but it has most often proven to be the choice that provided me the most life lessons, personal growth, and experience.We live with the choices we make. We are often the product of our choices, so I want to choose what is best for me and my family, regardless of the path thatt the majority may choose.

So, I am thankful, even though at times it has come with considerable cost, that rather than take the well worn path of others before me, I have quite often chosen the road less travelled. And, for me, that truly has made all the difference.