Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, 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 travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.

– The poem by Robert Frost.

This is one of the wonderful poems close to my heart! The poet has a different concept in mind when he touches this domain, but I have always felt that it this way…….

People hesitate to make choices when life throws a difficult situation… Mostly people would prefer the most used one when compared to the one that is least used. Why is it so? Perhaps people hesitate to steer their regular course into a newer one….. The fear of change! The fear of getting out of the comfort zone! Or is it due to a strange fear that lurks beneath and stops them to announce they are a different lot (?)

One should also remember that choices should be made independently.

We have enough examples to be referred to in our day-to-day lives where we come across people from all walks of life, unable to make the right and firm decisions in tough times! This usually crops up with relationships; the hesitation to say ‘NO’ to someone close, or put the thought straight across to set things right – will all obviously lead to still a worse situation.

It is definitely perplexing to make choice when one has the least idea of what lies ahead… Still it has to be made.

The golden rule we have to abide is, decision making has to be independent. It’s high time that we learn to decide for ourselves, without expecting others to fix everything for us – Finally, paving a way for life-long blames on either side.

The failure to decide for oneself is traumatic.

This picture was a random click, which I never thought would come to help me relate with Robert Frost’s poem – ‘The road not taken’