“Two roads diverged in a wood and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” ~Robert Frost
I feel especially connected to this quote by Robert Frost because most of the choices I have made have been the one less travelled. I was the little girl who would eat green strawberries while everyone else waiting for them to turn color. Some of my choices caused me great stomach pain both literally and figuratively, but I boldly made the choice to take option B more times than not.
Seeing what is behind Door number 2 will either give us something greater or make us regret ever going there, but the thing about me is I have never been comfortable with not looking. Wondering what else is available to me and losing sleep over it was always more painful than the disappointment of the gamble.
I was also the girl who would pluck a green pepper from the garden and go on a walk with it pretending it was my magical fruit with hidden powers. Other kids went straight for the fruit trees. Maybe by simply loving the color green, the good and bad outcomes would be evenly balanced. I was the girl who chased the arts while others found safe good-paying jobs. I like to think that by choosing the road less travelled I haven’t become richer like gambling on the slower horse, but I am quite certain my choice made life at least more interesting.
My experiences have provided a very colorful backdrop to my current place and state in the world. I now have a palette of colors to paint with that I wouldn’t have, had I taken the same path as everyone else.
Playing it safe seems to be a constant reminder whenever we gamble a bit in life. I have found the best way to gamble is not about choosing how much you invest, but by changing my mindset to be acclimated to being sure I will be totally ok with the outcome. I don’t look at life’s gambles as how much can I get back, I look at them as trying something new. I make sure my mind is prepared for whatever the result is. How will I react to the bad endings? I make sure I understand the goal is to gain perspective not to gain monetary items.
Some people view the Robert Frost quote as being adventurous. When I made the move from Canada to Los Angeles, I could hear the very loud whispers in the circles around me from people who were very sure I was mad. I didn’t have it all figured out when I came here. I packed a suitcase and a smaller bag and I knew that was close to stupid at the time. But looking back, it wasn’t at all. What was the worst that could happen? That’s the thing; I didn’t look at the worst case scenario because I felt like I was already living the worst case scenario in Canada. How can a green strawberry make you sick when you already have the flu? I didn’t feel threatened by any potential effect.
‘Trial by fire’ is another phrase I feel very associated with. There were so many choices I had made that were forced. Some of us need a fire lit underneath us in order to go running while others won’t budge from the chair unless the whole house is on fire. Some people are so sad, they welcome their home burning so they don’t have to face another day. I have taunted the fire around me to take me with it.
This morning I saw the two feral kitties on the roof. I hate that they bite at their fleas all the time. I got to thinking that the fleas keep them calm and occupied because they never do too much of anything else. I wondered what kinds of things they would do if they didn’t have a flea distracting them. I see them spot one another and swing the tails in anticipation of some play, but then they will both be stopped by their own fleas. The one kitty this morning went into a rolling frenzy as though he was saying, “Fleas, fleas, fleas, yeah I got them, whatever…life’s a riot!”
We all have something holding us back from being adventurous. The hard part is to figure out how to find ourselves in it all when our skin is crawling. We become so fixated on our skin that we simply can’t find the person we are on the inside.
I guess we can be an indoor kitty without fleas; safe and clean or we can endure the bites and go hunting. Maybe the best of both worlds is to tackle those fleas once and for all so we can’t be bitten on the journey. Running away from problems isn’t part of an adventure, adventure should make us feel free!
Staying off the beaten path,
Karen :)
“Freedom lies in being BOLD.” ~Robert Frost
