The Path Less Travelled

The other day, I was sitting outside of my mother's house, locked out. The weather wasn't bad, which I was eternally grateful for, but from the looks of the clouds, it wouldn't stay that way for long. My mom and her boyfriend were out and about somewhere, and I had no way of getting a hold of them.

My cell phone was inside the house, along with the rest of my belongings. I didn't bring it with me, as there is no such thing as cell phone service here... only dead zones. That being said, I took a walk to pass the time, as sitting around on the front porch was getting rather boring, and quickly.

I walked down the hill to the creek that marks the end of the property. I stared at the water for a while and reflected about everything that's going on in my life, and everything that has already happened, and started looking towards the event horizon that holds the future things that will happen to me. Sometimes getting in to these contemplative moods works out rather well for me. Other times, not so much.

This time, I feel that I was very fortunate.

After becoming bored with the water, I walked a little further in to this thicket that is on the property. I sat on a rock and thought about all of the decisions that I've made in life that led me to that exact point. I can't say that I was impressed with myself.

There was something bothering me... something that I couldn't quite put my finger on. It wasn't until I started my way back to the locked and empty house that it hit me. On my way back, I was presented with a choice. That choice was to move forward through a patch of foliage that was more than likely some form of poison ivy or poison oak, or go up a muddy hill and around some rocks to avoid the possible poison. I made my choice in haste, and rather foolishly.

I walked directly through the unknown foliage.

As soon as I was done, it hit me. The thing that was bothering me about my reflections; the missing link, if you will.

You see, what I realized almost immediately is that I did what so many of us human beings are constantly doing throughout our lives: I took the path of least resistance. I'm not quite sure why I did this. The nearest I can figure is that it's in our instinct to do things like this. I took the way that was easiest, and as a result, I would possibly have itchy skin and a visit to the doctors office as a way of once again teaching me about cause and effect. If I were to have taken the path less travelled, i.e. the uphill way that would have involved some relatively hard work and yet no blemished skin and even, quite possibly, a better sense of accomplishment, I wouldn't be in this situation to begin with.

Believe me when I tell you, I started getting giddy over this prospect. It wasn't long before my mind went to other areas with this new information. I made the connection to what the Bible says about taking the path less traveled, and that's why I'm here today, writing this blog.

I know that I said that I wouldn't preach at you all, and believe me when I tell you that I'm not. I'm not in a good position to preach to people.... I'd be way too much of a hypocrite. All I'm saying is that Jesus couldn't have been too far off with his advice to stick to the path less traveled. Sure, it's harder work, but.... it's what is gonna keep you safe.

With this newfound realization, I immediately set to work, thinking about all of the times in life that I took the path that was most commonly travelled, and how they all invariably ended in tragedy for me.

There was the decisions I made when it came to drugs. I had some good times, sure, but I firmly believe that because of those decisions, I can no longer realize my full potential. The decisions that I made when it came to schooling. Sure, I graduated a year ahead of my class, but... what do I have to show for that, exactly? Nothing.

Time and again, we, as human beings, are forced to make decisions. I look back at history and I see what it was that made the great people so great: they took the paths less travelled, and the results were amazing. These are the people like Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Ghandi, Mother Theresa, and so on. Sure, these people made their mistakes in life, but they did something that so many of us - myself included - have problems doing: they moved passed their problems, and made something so much better of themselves.

And so I offer this as a challenge to all of us: at least once per month, let's make a decision in life to take the path less travelled, and see what happens. I look forward to the results.