The Road Not Taken

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.

Robert Frost

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Majority of us know about the poem, The Road Not Taken by American poet, Robert Frost. The poem is about choice. How one decision can change a person’s entire life. Frost, himself said that this poem is tricky and often misinterpreted.

Most of us think that it is important of not following the crowd, but it also can refer to the tendency to regret past decisions.

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In this poem, the speaker walking on an autumn day in a forest where the leaves have changed to yellow. He must choose between two paths that head in different directions. He regrets that he cannot follow both roads. He pauses for a long while to consider his choice.

One road seems preferable, however he has decided that the paths are roughly equivalent. He tries to reassure  himself that he will return someday and walk the other road.

However, he realizes that he probably will never return to walk the alternate path, and he considers how the choice he must make now will look to him in the future. He believes that when he looks back years later, he will see that he had actually chosen the less traveled road.

He also thinks that he will later realize what a large difference this choice has made in his life. Of course, he has regrets and he will be telling his story with a sigh "somewhere ages and ages hence.

The poem title itself, The Road Not Taken, —implying that he will never stop thinking about the other path he might have followed.

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Our life journey is made of choices. We always need to choose and decide. Our life satisfaction depends on our choices. Whether it is good and bad, we are totally in control of our destiny. You cannot blame others.

The God gives the tests to make you confident with the choice. It is not God’s fault if you find difficulties along the journey. Instead, it is His blessing that you can possibly pull through the difficult situations.

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You probably faced many dilemmas before. As an example, you love to study Engineering and Medicine. You are well deserved enough to enroll to both faculty at the same time. But, you just cannot accept both of them simultaneously. You need to decide between Engineering and Medicine. If you choose Engineering, so say bye to Medicine. And if you choose Medicine, say bye to Engineering.

You need to choose only one, and that will be your career for the rest of life.

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You will face problems, no matter what your choice is. During that hard time, you will probably wondering what if you choose another choice. You start to blame yourself and the surroundings.

As consequence, you lose the desire with your choice and slowly get depression. You do not love what you are doing anymore. At last, you decide to completely give up.

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You have the right to choose whether you want to continue or to back off. Our life is made of choices. Even you can choose how your death will be, good or bad. Instead of living in disappointment, why don’t you try to embrace your life in a beautiful way?

You won’t be content if you keep blame yourself for the past’s decision. You cannot turn back the time. Instead, you need to focus with the present. You should take care of the present and only that you can find the happiness.

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We cannot have everything. We need to choose and focus. Do not regret with the choice you made. We only live once. And do not let your life full with regret and disappointment.

Do not regret.  Rather, you need to look back with gratitude.

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Never regret.

If it’s good, it’s wonderful.

If it’s bad, it’s experience.

(Victoria Holt)