One of my all-time favorite poems ends with these three lines
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I---
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference"
Sound familiar? These last three lines were taken from Robert Frost's poem The Road Not Taken (1920).
Looking back at when I first read this poem in high school. I understood the meaning and what Frost was trying to convey -sure I 'got' it, but I truly didn't GET it. In an academic sense sure, but in a 'this could could be applicable in my life sense' of course not- I lacked the insight to make this truly work for me at that point in time.
Looking at it now with new awareness, I realize that the message of this poem is applicable to what I'm trying to accomplish with this blog. Every journey has a direction, in Frost's case there were two roads but in our lives there are often an infinite amount of 'roads' we can choose to etch our destiny in.
But you might ask, Which road do we choose? In my case, what road do I choose?
That's a choice we all have to make. How easy or difficult that choice is depends on the context of our lives and what we are trying to accomplish. An example of the thought process I'm going through here are displayed in two situations below one simple and one a little less simple:
Situation #1: Streetlight at a square road, going right or left will lead you to the same destination.
I could go left and reach my destination.
I could go right and reach my destination.
Simple right?
On to the next one...
Situation #2: I would like to go to ____.
Depends on the context.
I could take the highway and reach my destination.
I could take the local routes and reach my destination.
I could take a mix of the two and reach my destination.
I could take the highway but let me go get something on the way there which could require me to....
You kind of get the point.
What to derive from all this is something simple yet concrete:
The destination often isn't the most important part of the journey.
Wait what?
The destination, in a practical sense is important if you're sick and want to get a checkup, you'd like to get to the doctor's office at some point, right?
Yeah, so what are you trying to say?
But what matters most is what it takes to get there. Just getting ready in the morning, fixing up breakfast, listening to a few tracks off of your 'awesome' playlist- that might just be me, you guys are missing out. What matters in between of the start and finish is most important.
Kind of like a sandwich in a sense, what makes the sandwich great is not the bread around it but what's in between- meat, lettuce, condiments, etc.
Now you're making me hungry...
Well, here is some food for thought- figuratively, not literally.
Take it in the context of self-improvement, the center of this blog where all my posts are revolving around- at least I hope they do. Its a journey to improve one self to find one's best self.
That last line seems like I took it out of the Merriam-Webster's dictionary from my lap and wrote it here, but I promise I made it up on the spot.
In that sense, is it ever possible to reach such a destination, in your case becoming the best self possible?
I don't know the answer to that question. And I don't necessarily have to. And neither do you. It's what in between what counts.
Take it in the context of athletes such as Michael Jordan. Jordan worked diligently day and night to become the player he was, he knew when he retired he was the greatest player to ever play the game, but I'm sure in his mind he felt he could push himself to become better. You could argue that his full potential might have not been reached, he didn't post 50-40-90 numbers each season and even then, there's room for improvement. His journey was to become the best player to ever to date to play the game, he accomplished it, but what if he had the aspiration of being the best player he could EVER possibly become?
He would have failed his goal.
You could apply this to any medium where being the best or most recognized at it is a destination for many- hip hop music, rock, r&b, blues, tap dancing, the list is infinite...
This journey I'm trying to go on, I'll likely fail as well if I look it at that way. But even looking at it in that way, success- oriented, I'll have more success than failure in the long run. The changes I've begun to make and will continue to make will bring a new level of success I wouldn't have been able to attain previously. And that is worth more than ultimately reaching my destination.
What road will I take?
Why live life as the same as many before us? Why not be different? Why not be unique? Why not do something spectacular that transcends generations to come with an effect that makes them look back and say:
"(Insert word that is popular at the time), ____ did it differently"
If you take anything from this blog post, its these few things. Do different, don't be afraid to deviate from the norm, and follow your ambition where it leads you. What's in between the start and finish is the most important part of a journey. Don't be linear, don't be predictable, live with an edge- a healthy one preferably, and take risks where warranted. Live every day as if its your last.
Advice I hope to follow and you should too.
I'd appreciate feedback on this post! Feel free comment, hit me up on social media or send an email to manifestedtruths@gmail.com. Thanks for reading.
