A Fork in the Road

As we physically travel from one place to another, we walk or drive on roads or paths or trails.  When doing this we have the capability of retracing our steps and going a different way because, generally, the surface of the roads or paths or trails are hard and fixed, and most of the time, they don’t really change that much.

However, there is another type of travel through life which is based on the life choices we make. Once a choice is made, we can’t just retrace our path and start over again because the circumstances and the people who are involved have changed.

Once words have been said, and lives affected, things can never return back to the original form. Things might be neutral BEFORE the choice, but AFTER the choice there will never again be neutral ground involving that particular choice.

I look back over my life and remember the different forks in the road that I have encountered. My choices have all worked together to bring me right here, right now, to who and what and where I am today.

There’s no point in wasting time and energy longing for some previous time or place, or believing that I can recapture past feelings or experiences by returning to some prior place.
       
It’s important to enjoy the journey wherever I am, because things change.
       
When I find myself at a fork in the road, I evaluate the options and how they will affect my principles and values. Each of us has a set of values that define who we are. If one option requires me to compromise my own personal values, no matter how lucrative it might seem to be, it will not be worth the price.
       
Does the choice feel right deep down inside? 
If it doesn’t feel right, I can’t force it to be right.
       
I get input from others that have traveled a similar road. I don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Learning things from others can help me make a wiser decision, so I get as much information and knowledge as I can before taking steps forward.
       
Once I’ve made a firm decision, I go forward working to focus my energy onto the new path and the new tasks it involves. I try to eliminate “second-guessing” myself, because doubts will only dilute my efforts.
 
Life is continually changing. We acquire new knowledge and understanding all throughout our journey. After making a choice and traveling on that specific road for a while, if I feel a need to re-evaluate, that means I have come to another fork in my road. Life is full of forks in the road.  We will always need to make new decisions.

 

SPOILER …. Things will turn out exactly the way they were meant to.
No matter what choices we make, ultimately everything will be all right.