The Road Not Taken

[Hamletmaschine]

You probably know the Robert Frost poem to which the title of this thread refers: the fork-in-the-road experience as a metaphor for those watershed moments in our lives when we must choose one path or another, and how there's no predicting which will be the better path, and how there's no coming back if you set out down the wrong one.

But Frost has it wrong, I think, in suggesting that we only come to one of these forks-in-the-road in our lives. I think we each have several of them.

Want to share one of yours with the congregation?

 

[Shaq]

Hmm.....I could...but instead I'll just offer that while I agree we have many forks in the road of life I think if we all reflect their is that one choice we made that irrevocably affected every other moment that you would encounter.....


Frost is genius...

 

[red_rose]

Yes, Father Ham.



I had to choose between staying in Florida and moving back to Texas.

I should have chosen the path less traveled (staying in FL), I think. But that was then and this is now... and everything happens for a reason.


Can I get an amen?

 

[Shaq]

Ahmmmmmmmmm.......

 

[Hamletmaschine]

Amen, Sister Rose, A-fucking-men!

But I'd hardly call Florida the road less traveled. I'd call it ... oh, hell on earth.

 

[alexandraaah]

I have so many, but I just don't buy into the regret factor; the idea that one is "wrong."

I think we need to make firm decisions and be happy with them. Whichever path is chosen is the right path.

I think.

Yeah.

 

[Guest]

I'm wondering if I've approached a fork in the road, as of yet.
I feel as though one may be approaching.

 

[Shaq]

I'm wondering if I've approached a fork in the road, as of yet.
I feel as though one may be approaching.

Tread carefully with eyes wide....good luck...

 

[Aphrodisiac]

I approached my fork on the road a while back and did not look twice, I simply kept on walking towards what I felt was right in my heart.

Though it would be considered wrong in so many people's eyes.




Yet , how can it be so wrong when all is so right ...

 

[Guest]

Tread carefully with eyes wide....good luck...

That's exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you.

 

[riff]

Dropping out of grad school. I didn't fail. I quit. I had a 3.5 GPA , which is more relective of my lifestyle than my insight.

I fell in love with a girl from Little Rock. She was one of the best lovers I had. Was supposed to move up there...... I didn't. I imagine we would be divorced by now. But we had a good time together- one of my few relationships that lasted more than a month.

Right now- I am on a road never taken. It's scarey sometimes- but I feel alive. So alive!

And I am accomplishing! I am creating!

 

[Hamletmaschine]

I have so many, but I just don't buy into the regret factor; the idea that one is "wrong."

I think we need to make firm decisions and be happy with them. Whichever path is chosen is the right path.

I think.

Yeah.

I understand what you mean, but it doesn't necessarily involve 'regret' for taking the 'wrong' road. I guess what I'm interested in is the experience of that moment when you knew you'd come to one of those forks, and had to make a choice, knowing it would forever alter the course of your life.

What was that experience like for you?

 

[Aphrodisiac]

Dropping out of grad school. I didn't fail. I quit. I had a 3.5 GPA , which is more relective of my lifestyle than my insight.

I fell in love with a girl from Little Rock. She was one of the best lovers I had. Was supposed to move up there...... I didn't. I imagine we would be divorced by now. But we had a good time together- one of my few relationships that lasted more than a month.

Right now- I am on a road never taken. It's scarey sometimes- but I feel alive. So alive!

And I am accomplishing! I am creating!

riff,

Did you go back and finish grad school ?

 

[cybergirly]

I'm not really sure that I've ever realized the moment I had to make the decision of which road to take. Looking back, I see many roads some good, others bad. The ones I look back on the most are filled with longing and regret.

 

[pipercatt]

I don't regret much the decisions I've made in life. There are a few mistakes that have ended up hurting other people, and those I regret. But I don't dwell on my choices. If the path I chose turned out badly, I call it a learning experience and move on.

Or try to, hey. I'm only human, right?

 

[alexandraaah]

I understand what you mean, but it doesn't necessarily involve 'regret' for taking the 'wrong' road. I guess what I'm interested in is the experience of that moment when you knew you'd come to one of those forks, and had to make a choice, knowing it would forever alter the course of your life.

What was that experience like for you?

I know, I was being evasive, though honest.

I'll get back to ya.

That's a very intense question for me.

 

[celiaKitten]

I've been sitting at a fork for quite some time, doing nothing. Hiding in my hole, I suppose.

 

[Rambling Rose]

About that fork in the road...

Just be glad it wasn't a knife.

 

[Guest]

I have to agree with Ham, in that there is more than one fork in our lives - I know I can count several in my own. And Alex and I think alike in that I believe that part of life is learning to live with your choices.

There was one choice I made that effects my everyday life. Faced with 2 paths - both of which had pros and cons, but either could have made me happy. Forced to choose, I had to consider not only my own happiness and the happiness of others, but also being able to look at myself in the mirror every day.

There are times when I question that decision - but not many and not for long, because I always come back to the manta "you made your choice, be happy with it". (Repeat as necessary.)


Can Sister hear an "Amen"????

 

[tswyk]

That was me! Sorry! Timed out, I guess!

 

[riff]

riff,

Did you go back and finish grad school ?

Maybe when I am an old man. But it would only be for love of learning. I could give a shit about degrees and certifications.

(teaching has taught me they mean little)

 

[sufisaint]

letting the road choose you?

Start out with a quote from The Tao...

Do you have the patience to wait
till your mud settles and the water is clear?
Can you remain unmoving
till the right action arises by itself.

The Master does not seek fullfillment.
Not seeking, not expecting,
she is present, and can welcome all things.


I am at a huge crossroad right now...I always seem to be disappointed with my choices....this time I am surrendering my self to "God's" will....keep my self open and go wehere the universe takes me....

Does this make sense? Does to me but differences of opinion in what makes life strange and wonderful.

 

[Rambrat]

I have come to several forks in the road. At times, it seemed as if I had choosen an obstacle course instead of a road. I agree that there is more than one proverbial fork in the road.

At the end of my path, I do not want to turn and look upon regret.

Besides, adversity makes life more interesting.

 

[AnnaB]

I have played the "What if" game with many decisions I made in life...you know when you find out you have screwed up and you go "What if I had done x instead of y". Over time I learned to look at each of these as a great learning experience and move on. Sometimes thinking you took the "wrong fork in the road" might actually be the opposite...maybe it was the right one for a lesson to be learned.

 

[someplace]

Two Roads Diverged in a Yellow Wood and

sorry I could not travel both. . .

The hardest decisions are when you know you could live with either one. Neither is right, neither is wrong. But what you think may be best in the long run.


Two roads diverged and I took the one less travelled on -- and that has made ALL the difference.

I've had to take the harder road, the unexpected one, knowing that it was best for me and that I could live with the consequences, no matter what. It was the defining moment for me to realize my parents no longer were responsible for me and my decisions. Decades later I still know I made the best choice.