justplainbil

Just Plain Bill

“…the one less traveled by…”

On my 76^th birthday, I recalled Robert Frost’s verse as I reminisced about years passed, chances taken, choices not made, and other decisions that have contributed to what I’ve become.

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

It’s compelling, even amusing to look “down the street of my life” or back over my shoulder at the roadways and side streets taken during my seven decades of change, observing – or trying to remember – events or major milestone decisions that made “…all the difference…” on my road “…less traveled by…”, such as:

·     To stop talking so much in kindergarten so I wouldn’t be sent out to recess with tape on my mouth – creating a lasting reputation as a chatterbox

·     Not to face the audience, but to face my kindergarten rhythm band I was chosen to conduct – I’d been told to never turn my back on an audience

·     To exit a bus a stop before mine when a pretty 5^th grade girl invited me to walk her home – instead of feeding my insecurity

·     Not to comply with a high school buddy’s request to break a law just to be his “friend” – just to do “anything” to feel included

·      To go to flight school when offered a chance in Marine boot camp – instead of declining, responding to my feelings of incompetency

·      To extend my military tour of duty when recruited to join one of the best drum and bugle corps in the world – again responding to those feelings of incompetency

·      To go down a weight class in my final year of college wrestling to be assured of a conference championship – missing the guidance of a real coach

·      To not eat a bag of dried apricots and drink water at the bottom of the Grand Canyon before needing to be helped 8 miles out of the canyon – a really painful “fork” in my road

·      To continue on with my graduate studies, just three units and a completed dissertation short of my doctorate, instead of returning to the classroom as a teacher – where “School Master of the Year” recognition was earned

Borrowing Frost’s phrase, it’s most likely true that none of these decision points would have “made all the difference”, but I will never really know, will I?  It’s all hindsight, as what’s ahead at each “fork” is known only after the opportunity to choose has passed. It is much like my favorite French term “l'esprit de l'escalier”, which occurs when I think of a snappy retort after the opportunity to say it has passed.

The road I’ve taken has brought me to who I am at this time. I’m delighted that there are more streets to be travelled and I fully intend to use my new experiences and lessons learned along the way to positively impact the lives of others. I’ll endeavor to search out and deliberately take the less-travelled forks in each road.