"And I took the one less traveled by..."

As I was scanning through some things in my library today I came across an old, old compilation of Robert Frost poems. Of course whatever I was supposed to be doing got pushed aside and I started reading at random.

After being utterly swept up in the genius that is Frost, I finally got to a poem that explains my life, my heart and is a sort of mantra for my day to day. It really grabs at me every time I read it and is a keystone of my personal mental attitude.

"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 kept 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.

Even as I sit here typing it, it gives me chills. It reminds me to be brave, to take on challenges, and to follow my instincts. We all want to make something of this world and leave our mark, but for me it is absolutely essential. I am nothing if I'm idle. My survival depends on purposeful forward progress. I can often let my doubts and over examination of all the things that could go wrong stop me from taking the leap that I know if I committed to I could make. I will take that road less traveled because that is where I will find my purpose and my satisfaction.

Thank you Robert Frost, your genius and skill has given me an inspiration beyond compare.