Two Roads, One Choice

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 marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sign
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.


I remember this poem from high school. I thought of it today. The road less traveled. What Frost fails to mention is that there's another road: The one unpaved, full of bolders and a vagabond waiting to rob you. I'm not sure if I chose that so much as I was blindfolded and left there. I don't like this road. I'm going to continue though, mostly because I don't have a choice. Just when you think everything is clear, there's another bump. There's no end. There's always going to be something to keep you from your smooth travels. What sucks is that you never know if you're the only one on the road or if there are others. Sometimes it does feel like I'm alone. It sucks.
That's why talking about things helps. I figured that out a bit late in life. I always live in my head, and frankly, if I can make other people crazy then what do you think I do to myself? I think too much and worry too much and get affected by things too much.
Like Frosts says, once you make your choice, you have to stick to it because you can't stop and take the other road later on. And we try to make the right choice but we never know if we're right because there are no guidelines or handbooks. It's so frustrating. I don't like not knowing things. I never thought I'd be where I am right now. I never thought that I'd live in the city, because as a native New Yorker, I was aware that paying 70% of your paycheck for rent is obscene. But here I am. For one reason or another. We don't know why things happen the way they do but we definitely learn things along the way--even if we don't like the lesson or can't see the reasons for it at the moment.
Life is hard. You're going to hit a snag, a bolder, a speed bump. It's going to happen. You just have to breathe, keep your eyes wide open and go with the thought that, there may have been a snakepit you just missed on the other road. You made a good choice afterall.