by Alicia Thomason

Created on: May 08, 2008   Last Updated: June 23, 2010

Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" has certainly been the most profoundly influential poem in my life. The poem is descriptive of the choices one is presented in life, and how choosing one "path" over another truly can irrevocably change our future.

There are many such situations that occur during a lifetime. They could include choosing one college over another, consequently causing you to make lifetime friendships, and a particular vocation. Selecting one job over another may affect your livelihood and your financial success. Choosing one mate over another greatly affects your entire life, as well your children's qualities, characteristics, and one's personal happiness. The choices we make regarding personal integrity (doing the right thing) may ensure we are law-abiding citizens instead of having a life of crime.

The friends we choose can give us a great source of strength, courage, and fun. Where we elect to reside affects who our neighbors are, and whom our children's playmates will be. There are also choices regarding our personal spiritual quests or our belief in God, which intrinsically affects our world views and our sense of personal peace and inspiration. How we wake up each and every day, and determine that we will hold our heads high, put a smile on our faces, and conduct ourselves with honor is a choice. There are paths regarding attitudes which help to define us, such as whether we choose to forgive others and ourselves and live a life free of anger or to hold it within us.

Looking back upon life, I recognize many Y's in the road, or choices I have made; and each selection has drastically altered the subsequent paths available. Often as one path is selected, the other ceases to exist; usually we cannot "go back". Quite frequently one never returns to that same Y in the road again, we just keep moving forward, one step at a time.

Frost's poem is intrinsically deep, despite it's initially perceived simplicity. The poem is about choices, and about life. There is a powerful gift given to each of us, and that is freedom of choice. As each of us nears a path, let us contemplate deeply and choose wisely.

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