From Fear to Adventure: How Walking the Road Less Travelled Changed My Life
Photo by Jens Lelie on Unsplash
Millions of people around the world love the poem, ‘The Road Not Taken,’ by Robert Frost. I'm one of them.
It's a poem that has stood the test of time, and for good reason. The poem speaks in a way that is both personal and universal, making it a true masterpiece. Could this poem change you life, like it has mine?
The poem is about a traveller who comes to a fork in the road and has to make a choice about which path to take. A place where often you and I can find ourselves faced with questions about life.
What am I going to do with my life?
What's my purpose?
How can I make the most of this one and only life I have?
Both roads ‘equally worn,’ the traveller reflects on the fact one is not necessarily better than the other. You have to make a choice which path are you going to take.
Each time I come to the line, ‘Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back’ speaks to me about the idea as I get older, I realise choices I've made in life have a domino effect, leading me down paths I can't return to choose again. It brings me feelings of regret or thoughts of missed opportunities.
It reminds me to make the most of the time I have left and to not always take the path of least resistance. To travel roads less travelled. That's what this blog is about. It's about thinking through those stories of my life, the lessons I've learned and how I can share the experiences, both good and perhaps not so good. Choices made when - 'Two roads diverged in a yellow wood.'
Face with that decision, I've always tried to be the traveller who chooses the road less travelled.
What about you? Do you run with the crowd or seek those paths of creativity and uniqueness, seeking "To boldly go where no man has gone before!"
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.
‘And that has made all the difference’ is one of the most powerful lines to me in the poem. It speaks to the idea that sometimes in life, those choices we make that seem small and insignificant can have a big impact on the direction our lives take.
Take this blog and my books, for instance. I write to share stories, not to be published, not for the acclaim. Certainly not for the money! I think I'm still in debt to the idea of making a living as a writer! I have often referred it to as my 'expensive hobby.'
It was the poem, To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time, by Robert Herrick, which inspired me to write - Gathering Rosebuds In Kerala. I reflect in the book on what exactly is a 'rosebud,' and what is the urgency of gathering them?
Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow will be dying.
'Gather Ye Rosebuds' also reflects and echoes in ‘The Road Not Taken.’ Both poems speak about living in the present moment, and making the most of the time we have. They, and writing hundreds of eulogies, remind life is short and I should make the most of it, by taking roads less travelled.
Don't let life pass you by. Take the road less travelled and make the most of the time you have.
Reflect on the choices you've made and the paths you've taken. Remember, the road not taken can lead to a life full of adventure and fulfilment. So, be bold, take risks, and make the most of the time you have.
Today, you stand at a place where, 'Two roads diverge [d] in a yellow wood.' The power of choice is in your hands. Make it count. ‘The Road Not Taken’ reminds us that life is a journey, and the paths we take shape our experiences.
Take a moment to reflect on your own journey, the choices you've made, and the paths you've taken. And don't be afraid to take the road less travelled, it may lead you to places you never imagined!
Please share your thoughts on the poem in the comments below, and your own journey of less travelled choices and roads.
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