The Road Not Taken

Back when I was in 7th grade, we took roll in my English class by each saying an assigned part of a poem. I think the point was to memorize 9 poems or something by the end of the year. I was the one who marked the roll if someone was missing. The only poem I even remember doing was "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost. I still have it memorized. Every once in a while, it will start going through my head.

This was the case yesterday as I hiked through the mountains near my parent's cabin. I began thinking of circumstances when I may have chosen "the road not taken." I often look at the lives of people around me and make comparisons.

I am married. They are not.

I work once a week. They have no job or work full-time.

I have children. They have none.

I have FOUR children. They have fewer and are definitely through.

I am LDS. Therefore, I have live according to a different set of morals and standards than a lot of people adhere to.

I have a bachelor's degree. They have no degree or a graduate degree of one kind or another.

Now, I understand we all have our different set of circumstances. The "roads" above are not taken willingly by some. I, of course, didn't mean to have four children by this point. However, I had always meant to have at least four children, so that's not relevant. The rest of those decisions were made very consciously. Had life progressed differently, circumstances may have necessitated different choices. There are more roads in my life. Some were quite small and I may not have noticed them as altering. Others are much more personal and too complicated to explain in as public a location as this.

Those "roads" that seem so much less taken in this world have defined who I am. I am a mother. That's what I do. My day is focused around nurturing and raising children and caring for our home. I work sparingly so I can keep my license and go back to being the breadwinner should Scott lose his job. I don't receive accolades for my work. I do much that's not noticed by many. I don't have time to go places. It's too difficult to do much when I have gone somewhere. So, we spend a lot of time close to home.

I am not lamenting my circumstances. I love what I do. I am not saying my circumstances are ideal. I wish it was easier for me to exercise and go to the grocery store. I am just thinking about the decisions in my life that were "forks in the road" and made me what I am today.

So, as I sit here at 2:00 in the afternoon, still not having taken a shower, I type my thoughts. I have two babies that need naps that are jabbering in their room. I have two others that have been running crazy, have been throwing toys, and are the cause of the babies being awake. I have gotten overly upset with them. They are just kids after all. It's my fault I let them play upstairs. They need me to be a good example.

I chose these roads. Going down these roads HAS made all the difference.

For those unfamiliar with the poem, here it is:

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;	5
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,	10
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.	15
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.