This post is written more in a stream of consciousness style rather than as a cohesive idea and as with any post that I write I am speaking more to myself and trying to gather together my own thoughts rather than trying to convince potential readers of anything. The last lines of the well-known poem by Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken, are frequently misquoted in my opinion.
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.
Like anything or anyone you have to take this poem as
a whole, and I think it captures quite pointedly human nature. Part of us
desires things of this earth which, if we look to them for fulfillment, can
ultimately be destructive; another part of us longs for something higher and
greater than ourselves and the confines of this world. Our default nature is to
focus on those earthly things that we can actually see. Why? First, because
it’s easier and two, because we are humans! Now most of these earthly things
I’m referring to are good things in and of themselves; it is what we do with them
and how we view them that can strip away their innate goodness. I personally
long for something in my life that is greater than my own feeble self and something
that will never let me down. This compels me to seek the road less-traveled.
Now I’m not urging you and me to take some lonely road; there are others who
have taken it before and others who are traveling it right now. Also this path
is not devoid of earthly joys; we are actually free to enjoy these things more
completely because we are not placing undue expectations on them that they
cannot possibly fulfill. At some point in our lives we must make a conscious
effort to follow one of the two paths; just because we
attempt to live our lives a certain way, however, does not mean that the old
struggles, desires, or habits simply disappear. In the third stanza of his
poem, Frost expresses this reality that even though he is on his chosen path
and is glad about it, sometimes he thinks about the other road and wishes he
were there instead. Sometimes two steps
forward will be followed by one step back.
All of this to say, humans have a dual nature and
anyone who claims not to have this dual nature is not being honest with
themselves. I confess that I am guilty of this very deed. Why do I fight against admitting this dual
nature? Because it means that I have a struggle within, and I don’t know about
you but I don’t like to reveal that I am less than perfect. Society and our own
pride tell us that we need to have everything together and it comes out even in
the smallest ways. For instance when someone asks us how we are doing we are
prompted to reply “I’m doing well, thank you” when in fact we may be feeling
quite the opposite. I’m not saying that we should spill all our woes and joys
to every person we meet, but so often we don’t even share who we are with those
who care about us the most out of fear that they will think less of us. You may
be surprised but most likely they will actually appreciate you more because
they will see you as the fellow human being that you are. A deeper, more
affectionate bond will develop than you had before because there is no more
façade and honestly, if that person is the perceptive type they probably
already know more about you than you think that they do. The road less traveled
is not an easy one; in fact it forces us to acknowledge even more the dual
nature within us. In taking this less-traveled road, however, we are choosing
to be true to ourselves, true to those around us, and true to the deepest longing
of our hearts.
