“The road less traveled”

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -

I took the one less traveled by;

And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost

www.lukestorms.wordpress.com

I remember one time when I was a student and had a field trip at the UPLB with classmates and mentors. A brief talk was given and the speaker drew our attention towards Robert Frost’s poem entitled “Road less Traveled.” I was passive that time. I didn’t get the sense of it until I came across it once again. I reflected on it and came up with few but meaningful interpretations. Some are now I’m urged to share them with you…

Every one of us makes choices everyday. No matter how simple or complex they can be, we are confronted with decisions that would change our lives for eternity. What to eat, clothes to wear, in a day are simple decisions to make that would more or less affect our mood for the day. But there are decisions in life that would change the life course we are treading. Whom to marry and when, what secular course to undertake, where to work, where to reside, are decisions that need to ponder to because it would mean the whole life we want to live throughout a lifetime. It’s just like “two roads diverged in the wood” that we need to take in the long trek to life, we are to make a choice.

It’s in our hands what the future can bring, regardless, of course, the things that beyond our control (natural forces, economics, political, etc.) We can make our way successful if we choose to do so. Doing the right thing is the right thing to do though vices are abound. There are only two ways we are heading, and if we are on the other, we are not at the other. One way is the way to successful, better, fulfilled life and the other is failure, worthless and regretful life. We need to choose the way that leads to a satisfying life.

If one is a part of any business, for profit or non-profit, should it be manager or not, that member of the organization is a “change-catalyst.” We don’t easily welcome change. We refuse to it. We resist change because we love the activities we used to do, the things we used to for many years. It is just like we are treading the “other road” – claiming to be the better one and many are walking through it. If we keep doing the same things, we could get what we had gotten.  Conventional things are risk-free, to a certain point, but changes are risky. As leaders, whether or not to adapt to changes, is an important decision to make. Leadership is change. Leaders need to take the “road less traveled” and few find it the better one because it’s grassy so to speak—full of challenges and risks.  Leaders initiate change inside organization for the better. This is to keep one step ahead of competitors and to discover the real potentials of other people inside the organization. We cannot just wait and see. Take the initiative.

Have you been in a wood lately? If you are confronted with “two roads diverged in a wood”, what road to take? Well, if you’re lost in a wood or in a forest perhaps, all roads will lead you out of the forest for sure. And if you have hesitation, follow the water in the river, lake or flowing water in the swamp that going out from the forest because they will take you to the sea, your way out. Or when you are lost in a wood and faced with the dilemma which road to take, why not asks someone in the wood? You could have a good guide… If that someone is not lost like you do.

What can make a difference? The “road less traveled” is enigmatic, full of surprises, blessings that you could not even hold on to it. “And that has made all the difference.”

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