Crossroads

Sometimes we reach junctions in life, by our own choice or otherwise, where the way may seem unclear. We can only look so far down the path of each option, which can lead to some fear and uncertainty as well. This can paralyze people with doubt and lead to inaction. Yet, while such curve balls in life obviously present challenges, they also represent the moments of greatest opportunity. Perhaps therein lays the formula for approaching such events. For I have observed that challenges are the gatekeepers of opportunity. These crossroads of change can be a gift if we are willing to accept them as such. So many of us wake up each morning and do the same thing we did yesterday. We follow the routine we have become accustomed to because it is familiar and safe and comfortable, having been conditioned to believe that people who rock the boat tend to end up getting wet. But what if one of the formulas for happiness and significance is actually to rock the boat? What if we become better people by getting wet once in a while? What if those challenging moments of opportunity are actually a gift from God? Maybe it’s good for us to walk a little closer to the edge once in a while.

The fact is that even the paths we traditionally perceive as safe don’t always turn out to be so. The stock market can crash, a job or a company or a pension may fail, a key relationship can change or, God forbid, we could get very sick. There really are no guarantees in life and the things we often choose to cling to sometimes prove to be less buoyant or stable than we thought. In the end our hope and happiness can’t be anchored entirely on external factors, or upon a rigid course that we assume will absolutely lead us to a desired destination. Sometimes it’s just not that simple. The one thing, however, that we are in complete control of is our constant opportunity to choose how we will respond to whatever life sends our way.  So when we reach those junctures in life they need not be feared. For they can absolutely be, as implied in my question above, gifts from God.

Today I find myself at just that kind of crossroad. At such a moment I find some solace and inspiration in Robert Frost’s classic poem, The Road Not Taken, which I’ve taken the liberty to paste below for your consideration. Such sentiments are instructional as we wrestle with options in our own hearts and minds. As I strain to perceive the final destination of each path available to me it can be a little overwhelming, and there is a natural tendency to face such moments with trepidation. However, when I consider that each path, though conceivably strewn with unseen obstacles, is actually a vessel of opportunity it alters my perspective entirely. The challenges are certainly easier to imagine than the opportunities, but that is actually just a matter of perspective. I don’t know what you might be facing today, but I’m encouraging you to face it with hope and optimism. The future will always be shrouded in haze, but the present is ours to command. We should absolutely make careful and informed decisions, tempered with wise counsel and prayer. That goes without saying. But if you woke up this morning, then the world is still your oyster. A crossroad can be frightening and it’s easy to ask yourself, “What if I make the wrong choice?” This may be a valid question, but it can also lead to a mire of indecision. The real question for us to ask ourselves today is, “What if I make the right choice?” That question will be an excellent first step towards embracing the future and all the opportunities which lie ahead. Are you ready? I say, “Rock the boat.”

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;

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 if I should ever come back.

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.

By Robert Frost