The Road Not Taken: from Frost to Jobs

Two roads diverged in a wood,  and I,  I took the one less traveled by,  And that has made all the difference.

(Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken) 

Have you ever read a poem or heard a song that really resonated within you? One that you could not forget or stop analyzing its meaning? One that you felt was almost written for you?

When I first read Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken, it did all that for me. It didn't compel me to always take the less traveled road, but it made me realize that choices, once taken, took on a life of their own. It compelled me to live a life where I avoided any and all what if's to the best of my ability. So if there was a boy who seemed to be interested but didn't have the courage to ask me out, I'd somehow force myself to start that conversation so that I wouldn't sit around thinking "what if." Conversely, if a relationship seemed to be headed nowhere, even if it hurt to do so, I'd start the conversation that was the beginning of the end. All to avoid the "what if" of lost opportunities or roads not taken.

As I grew up, this became more difficult so I modified my motto of avoiding what if's to staying true to myself at any given moment. At times this meant going out on a limb or making unpopular decisions, but if I couldn't see an alternative I could live with, then there was no other choice. I'd learned the difference between right and wrong and the boundaries of what was necessary--whether to succeed in business or in life--and what was wrong, under any and all circumstances. I make mistakes, but I try not to cross that line.

This is something I was raised with, and then took upon myself, so it's become so ingrained that I rarely think about it. But listening to Steve Jobs' Stanford Commencement speech, reminded me of why I took this upon myself, of why I was so adamant to avoid those what if's at first and the regrets later. He reminded me that we cannot "connect the dots going forward," so we must do what is right for us and have faith that all will work out. I think we can all use that reminder.

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” - Steve Jobs’ Stanford Commencement Address