Many look back in their lives and wonder what would have been or could have been had they chose a different path. While this is experienced by us all at some point, the more appropriate question is what path will you take from here forward.
The question of paths and regrets will be argued for eternity. Those who are successful understand that the past is just that. There is NOTHING you can do about what is behind. However, there is EVERYTHING you can do about what lies ahead.
Those who cannot forget the regrets of the past and move forward to that which you are destined and called to become risk the possibility of a lifetime spent in sorrow. Those who move past their challenges of life past and press on to the challenges that lie ahead bring hope to their families and certain success in the attempt in general. Success is not a destination, but rather a path on which those who have made the decision tread.
Success is not a monetary, social or material reward, but an attitude that consists of determination and the will to press on regardless of the barriers that are placed in your path. If you persist and develop that inner strength, it WILL make all the difference.
Robert Frost perfected this struggle with paths to be taken:
| 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; | 5 |
| 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, | 10 |
| 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. | 15 |
| 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. | 20 |
I surmise many will read this and decide that they are just fine in their job or chosen career. However, there will be a few who decide it is time to take the road that is a little less worn, a little less traveled, a little harder to trek. They will experience the joy of the trip, the respect they earn at the end of the road, not the temporary respect earned by money, but the long lasting respect earned from a life of integrity and a life built with hard work, determination and giving.
Robert Frost understood that his life of writing would not gain the respect that others get from the money they earn during their lifetime. He chose to make a difference for many generations to come!
I suppose I will never know how many people truly understand what Robert was meaning. But, for me what matters is that I pass on to as many as I can his message of hope and endurance to those with whom I come in contact with.
If you are but one of those. Leave me a comment and let me know how you read Robert.
If you want to figure out those things that are holding YOU back, check out:
Rob Wheeler
