| All through our lives we are faced
with decisions. Each judgment we make heads us down a new road. We may take
many precautions to assure that this is a safe path, or assess that it is the best choice.
But what of the road not taken? It is always a matter of second guessing trying to decide even after a road has be chosen that the course is the best one. Then if the direction does not seem beneficial we wonder.... What of the road we did not take? Life is made up of roads but it is also like being on a moving sidewalk that speeds up if we attempt to traverse it in reverse. There is no way to turn around and go back to a crossroad. Can we only theorize about the road we did not take? If by chance we feel the road we did not choose might have been the better choice, we must seek a route that might then take us in that direction. When we see another opportunity the decision is again before us. Like being trapped in a maze which road do we take? Since no two lives are identical, neither are the roads we take. The opportunity of today is not the destiny of tomorrow. Like the ticking of the clock that notes the passing moment there is no returning. Select a road and wonder about the road not taken? Turn the kaleidoscope and know that you will never again be able to regain the exact image or color combination. This is like the routes that spill out in front of us as we constantly search for a course. Which is the right one and what of the one not taken? No pausing, no time to consider at the crossroads. It is carry forward or the door of opportunity is passed and the road not taken is left behind forever leaving only speculation as to its direction. Regret is this homage to the road not taken? We can relate to being at the right place at the right time, this is confirmation of a wise choice in roads. The same is conversely true of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, the selection being a bad one. Consequence is this punishment for the wrong road? Sometimes like driving into the dark of night our headlights give only a glimpse of what is ahead. So easy to miss a turn or sign as we pass through this darkness on our journey. Hindsight is this a mirror to the road not taken? Guilt is the enemy, indecision the means, remorse the vehicle to cruelly judge the selection of the roads one takes in their life that do not have a positive result or ending. The unanswered question, the road not taken.
Cheryl C. Helynck 1999
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