Daily writing prompt

What gives you direction in life?

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Did you ever read that poem, The Road Not Taken?

It’s a poem in which the writer has to choose a road, and he decides to take the one less traveled which in retrospect has made all the difference. (The actual meaning of the poem that I only learned about more recently than I care to admit, is a little more in depth than that!)

What I thought this poem meant

Way back in my late teens, I thought it meant what it sounded like. That in life, by taking the road less traveled and seizing the day a la Dead Poets Society, you can live a genuine, more meaningful life. Taking the less-traveled road made all the difference in life. I made a lot of choices in my younger years with this type of mentality. But…

What it actually means

This poem was written as a joke for one of Frost’s friends, who didn’t appreciate the humor in it very much. He took it seriously. Frost’s poem means that it doesn’t really matter which road is taken. Both of the roads in that poem are equal. One isn’t much better than the other. The writer states though, in retrospect, that taking the road he did has made all the difference. But it’s not really true.

These days, God gives me my direction. My desire to help people. Being kind. I try to align my will with God’s, and do what’s in front of me to do. That’s what gives me my direction today.