A Poets View

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 traveled by,
And that has made all the difference

by: Robert Frost

Being independent is seen sometimes as being different in today’s society.  If we find ourselves taking a different path than our peers we are seen as the “odd” one.  Yet do we really want to have someone else thinking for us or making decisions for us because it’s the popular thing to do?  Just because your peers are taking drugs or drinking and driving does that mean that you have to adhere to that same behavior?  In high school and college I know that many of us were faced with these situations.  Many of us followed what everyone else was doing because it was the “cool” thing to do.

Many people also follow the guidance of others in relation to what they do for a living.  We may want to become a  writer or musician yet we are guided towards another career by well meaning people who decide they should do our thinking for us.  It takes courage and an immense amount of self confidence to take the road less traveled.   It is so much easier to follow the pack than journey alone, yet a journey alone provides us the freedom we need to grow and become who we were meant to be.  We can only find our true self by taking the road less traveled.

I snapped the photo above while at the Botanical Gardens.  I watched my little feathered friend for a matter of about five or six minutes.  While his peers were enjoying the water, murky as it was, he simply stood there and watched.  His contemplation gave me the idea for this post.

Here are some suggestions:

1. Believe in what your heart tells you to do.  Following your peers in what they think and do only allows you to ignore your true self.  Think for yourself even if it differs from others.

2. Let go of expectations.  Let others be who they are.  Even if you do not like their choices or have the same beliefs allow them to be an individual and independent of anyone else.

3. Listen to your heart.  Even if you have conformed to a certain way of living yet feel in your heart you want something different, you have to take the road your heart provides.  As my favorite guru, Dr. Wayne Dyer professes, “The reward of self-sufficiency will far outweigh the practice of conformity.”

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