roads

alice in wonderland. i haven't read the book since i was a child, but part of it has always remained with me. here is the quote that came to mind today:

"One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. Which road do I take? she asked. Where do you want to go? was his response. I don't know, Alice answered. Then, said the cat, it doesn't matter.”-Lewis Carroll

it all comes down to choices: not only making them, but also having a goal, having a direction in which we want to head. and end destination in mind. though the chesire cat's remark oozes from his somewhat patronizing tongue, he speaks much truth. we will continually find ourselves needing to cross the "forks in the road" of life--these we cannot escape.

so do we naively act as alice, who just wanted to know which road to take, without thought as to where her final destination would be? i don't believe we can...

we also cannot wait at the fork forever, never deciding which road to take. the knowledge of which one is the "right" path won't "magically" come to us if we just stand, doing nothing.

so what is the solution? we think about what we want. we find out which road gets us there and we take it. most often than not, it will be the less traveled road, the road that appears risky and unfamiliar, even frightening. and as frost said (and i honestly believe) that will be what will have made all the difference in our lives.