TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2024 DECISIONS

 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2024 POETRY?

From Robert Frost - Two Roads diverged in a yellow wood:

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;

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.

*****

Over the course of life, we all have been in the situation of making a tough choice of which road to take 

***

Roy Clark - country singer and cohost of Heehaw (boy am I dating myself today) sang “Right or Left at Oak Street:

When I reach the stop sign at Oak Street

The same thought crosses my mind

Should I turn right like I always have,

Or left and leave it behind?

Right or left at Oak Street

That's the choice I face everyday

And I don't know which takes more courage

The staying or the running away

***

Seemingly, Clark is headed to work.  And like every morning, his wife had been nagging him:

From the lyrics:

Seven-thirty is my breakfast time

And I know what the wife's gonna say

The Crawfords next door got a new swimming pool

The Millers got a color TV

Mr. Wilson's job is not as good as yours,

But his wife dresses better than me

I get to the school at eight o-five

And drop off the kids at the gate

Then I drive past the clock outside the bank

It's exactly a quarter past eight

***

Nag, nag nag. 

Our neighbors have things we don’t have - why don’t we get more money?  The implication is that the husband (Clark in this case) is letting his wife down by not getting a swimming pool or buying a color TV (these days, it would be not buying the largest, gigantic television set available) 

*****

Should he end the marriage - just go left and go someplace new - someplace far away from the nagging wife - or should he stay and be berated every (blessed) morning?  

Down inside, most of us know that we are going right.  We go to our boring jobs, stay with the nagging wife, stay the course.  

Maybe just once to play “hooky” and turn left and have the day for ourselves.  

Tough choices.  In Frost’s poem, he writes, “I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”  

Forty-six years ago, I had to decide for myself and my family.  Should I leave teaching high school math and take a one-year temporary position at a college?   I was largely “tenured” as a high school teacher in Keokuk, Iowa.  I’ve been there for five years; we got married while I was at Keokuk, and we had two children while I was at Keokuk.  It wasn’t a bad job - just kind of a dead-end.  Money was tight - would life be better in the one-year college position?  (I’ll admit I wasn’t sure).  

In my case, I was ready to change.  I believed in Psalm 37:4: “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

There have been other decisions - eight years ago, I took a few steps on a “road less traveled” - and I have been both blessed and cursed since then as I transitioned to being a woman.  (And, yet, looking back, I took the road less traveled - and that has made all the difference!!!)

For me, both decisions were made with prayer and deep searching.  (And, early in the second decision, depression led me to consider suicide).  I have a message - that LOVE WINS.  Love one another, love your neighbors - don’t judge.

How about you?  Have you ever taken the “road less traveled?” or turned left at Oak Street (instead of staying in your comfort zone by turning right?”

*****

LOVE WINS

LOVE TRANSFORMS

Karen Anne White, ©, February 13, 2024