The Road Not Taken

The Road Not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, 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 traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
(Robert Frost)

I first came to know this poem more than a decade ago. Even from my first read, I've already liked the poem. Due to my limited knowledge at that time, I only took it literally before.

I. Took the one (road) less traveled by. And that has made all the difference.

The young, idealist, and starved for freedom me was so inspired by that.
I don't have to follow the mainstream. People don't have to agree to everything that I do. But as long as I believe what I am doing is right, because of this poem, I feel like it is worth to do.

As the years gone by. Lots of things happened. I came to see what is between the lines. More often than not, I look back to past actions, sigh, and recite the poem with probably more an irony than literal. That I have took the one (road) less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.

Had I taken a different way before, I might have arrived at a different spot right now. Had I took the one (road) often traveled by, I might not endure as much hardship as I did. Or probably, I'd have more people to turn to when troubled. More people who'd understand the situation.

I've been there before.
Being in a spot where I need affirmations, someone to tell that what I am doing worth the while. That being different is not all bad, and that keeping my idealism, doing what I think is right even though I know doing it differently is easier, is the right thing for me to do.

And through those times, I look back and reread this poem, then I'll find what I needed.
More than affirmations from people around me, I found the affirmations from within myself. That I, am okay with taking the one (road) less traveled by. No matter where I'll end up later, whether I've made all the differences, in a positive or not-so-positive ways, at least I know....I have live my life the way my heart desired it to be. It might not be smooth-sailing, I might stumble here and there, face rejections from people, hit some walls, and I might not get all those shiny things I might have get if I choose the other one. But at least I get to keep peace with my own self. And THAT, for me, has made all the differences.