Fork in the Road

In honor of the day of the week and the fact that it has been stuck in my head all week, I'm going to HIGHLY recommend that you watch this video.  Someone told me that Rebecca Black did a bad cover of this song, but this one is REALLY great!

Stephen Colbert "Friday"

I realize there have been a lot of video parodying or straight up mocking this song, but I actually kinda like it.

One of the most mocked parts of the song is the singer's crisis at the bus stop:

"Kickin' in the front seat.  Sittin' in the back seat.  Gotta make my mind up.  Which seat will I taaaaaaaake?"

Such difficult decisions this person must go through in their life.  It is truly humbling the difficult decisions that some people must deal with.  I have yet to figure out how anyone could decide between kickin' in the front seat or sittin' in the back seat.  These are the important questions in life.

Robert Frost actually wrote about this very issue:

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.

Then took the other, 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.

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.

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.

I don't know about you, but I was required in middle school to memorize this poem because it had an important message of making the right decisions in life.  ACHOO!  (I've mentioned my allergy before, right?)  Read this poem again, but this time, read it with a tone of sarcasm and a hint of spite.

As it turns out, Frost wrote this poem for his indecisive friend to mock him for his inability to make a simple decision.  Yeah, I just blew your mind.  If you read the poem, you'll see that Frost says repeatedly that the two roads are EQUAL.  It doesn't matter which one you pick!

Like kickin' in the front seat versus sittin' in the back seat and choosing between two equal roads in a wood, many decisions in life do not really matter as long as you make a decision:

"When you come to a fork in the road, take it!"  Yogi Berra

People wonder so often about whether or not they are on the "right path."  Whether or not they are doing what God wants them to do.  I can tell you from experience, if you are not doing what God wants you to do, he'll let you know somehow.  He may lead you to a new job, bust your knee, cause an illness, convince a relative to leave you a large inheritance, or part the clouds and come down from heaven to tell you to your face what you are supposed to do.  However he does it, God will get you back on track.  All you have to do is make a decision.

This idea has been exemplified many times on one of my favorite sitcoms:  How I Met Your Mother.  The entire premise of the show is that this is a LONG story leading up to Ted meeting his future wife.  Several seasons in, he still hasn't met her.  In one episode I recently saw, through the episode we learn that Ted found a penny that led to a bet with Robin that led to the discovery of a sale that led to staying up all night that led to Robin walking in on Marshal preparing for a marathon which led to Marshal breaking his toe which led to Barney entering the marathon which led to Barney's legs not working which led to Ted having to get Barney from the subway which led to Ted being late for his plane which led to him missing his interview for a job which led to someone else getting the job.  Had Ted not found the penny, he would have gotten the job and would never have met the titular mother.

If you think about it, I'm sure you can find these course corrections in your own life.  The lord works in mysterious ways.  It all starts with a decision.

"When you come to a fork in the road, take it!"  Yogi Berra

Just choose SOMETHING!