This poem, to date, is still my favorite of all time. I think I love it so much because 1. I never had an issue understanding it (none of that read between the lines BS) and 2. It really applies to everyone. At one point or another you will have to make a decision in your life, a big decision, and you will have two...or sometimes even more options to choose from. We even have those little choices we make daily. How often do you find yourself thinking about the "what if's". What if I never went to that place, or met that person. If you really think about it there are an infinite amount of "paths". Any little tiny occurrence, decision, choice we make could potentially drastically alter the course of our lives.
So when faced with a decision...a path..like in Frost's poem....do you go the way you know is safe...the path you know many people have traversed? Or do you choose the path that few have traveled, a path with the possibility of complication OR an even better outcome than the alternate?
I pulled an annoying girlfriend yesterday...sitting on the couch with boyfriend, bug fast asleep between us, I looked at him and said "Do you ever wonder what your life would be like if we had stayed broken up?" He looked down at bug, looked up at me and with ZERO hesitation he says "No.". While I sat there, my little black grinch heart melting from his answer, I couldn't help but think that I WISH I were that way. I wish I could journey down my "road of life", if you will, and NOT look back. NOT wonder about the "what-ifs". And the more I thought about it the more I realized how shitty of a way it is to go about life that way...to constantly wonder "what if". Well,to be frank, who the hell cares? That bell has rung, that song has been sang...the decision has already been made, so why look back? If you regret a choice you've made....learn from it. If we sit back and constantly wonder what could have happened or should have happened you lose the NOW.
A new path may be scary or challenging, but sometimes the outcome is worth the risk. THAT, my friends, is exactly how I felt when we found out we were pregnant with bug. I was scared, I thought I was gunna puke (and not from morning sickness), I questioned my ability to be a good mother...and even from the get-go boyfriend was ready. He knew that we were going to have her and raise her to the best of our ability. He KNEW that from the very beginning. And now looking back at that moment, I realize how absolutely right he was. You take what is handed to you and you make the best of it. And now, I can't even begin to imagine my life without this little girl. I can't. She is my whole world, and I'm a happier and better person now that she's in my life. It was a path (if given the choice) I probably would not have taken. And now, even though I had no choice in the matter, I'm thankful for her. Every single second of every day I'm thankful for my bug.
I think from now on I really need to start appreciating the NOW more, and not wonder about the could-have-beens. I love my boyfriend, I love my bug, I love my friends and family. I'm happy, I'm healthy. And THAT is enough.
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I- I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference."
