The Path We Choose to Walk

This is a poem I love that I want to share with you. It is a little lengthy but the message is important. It gives a little perspective on choosing the path we choose to walk in life. Take a moment to read the poem and then answer this question. Why are you on the path you are currently walking?

The Calf-Path by Sam Walter Foss

One day, through the primeval wood,
A calf walked home, as good calves should;
But made a trail all bent askew,
A crooked trail as all calves do.

Since then two hundred years have fled,
And, I infer, the calf is dead.
But still he left behind his trail,
And thereby hangs my moral tale.

The trail was taken up next day
By a lone dog that passed that way;
And then a wise bell-wether sheep
Pursued the trail o'er vale and steep,
And drew the flock behind him, too,
As good bell-wethers always do.

And from that day, o'er hill and glade,
Through those old woods a path was made;
And many men wound in and out,
And dodged, and turned, and bent about
And uttered words of righteous wrath
Because 'twas such a crooked path.
But still they followed---do not laugh---
The first migrations of that calf,
And through this winding wood-way stalked,
Because he wobbled when he walked.

This forest path became a lane,
That bent, and turned, and turned again;
This crooked lane became a road,
Where many a poor horse with his load
Toiled on beneath the burning sun,
And traveled some three miles in one.
And thus a century and a half
They trod the footsteps of that calf.

The years passed on in swiftness fleet,
The road became a village street;
And this, before men were aware,
A city's crowded thoroughfare;
And soon the central street was this
Of a renowned metropolis;
And men two centuries and a half
Trod in the footsteps of that calf.

Each day a hundred thousand rout
Followed the zigzag calf about;
And o'er his crooked journey went
The traffic of a continent.
A hundred thousand men were led
By one calf near three centuries dead.
They followed still his crooked way,
And lost one hundred years a day;
For thus such reverence is lent
To well-established precedent.

A moral lesson this might teach,
Were I ordained and called to preach;
For men are prone to go it blind
Along the calf-paths of the mind,
And work away from sun to sun
To do what other men have done.
They follow in the beaten track,
And out and in, and forth and back,
And still their devious course pursue,
To keep the path that others do.

But how the wise old wood-gods laugh,
Who saw the first primeval calf!
Ah! many things this tale might teach---
But I am not ordained to preach.

So, why are you on the path you are currently walking? How long have you been walking it without being consciously aware of why you are on it? Stop and take a moment to ask yourself some questions. Why are you on this path? Are any of the answers you come up with a good enough reason to be on it? Does it serve in helping you reach the destination your heart truly desires? Are you here blindly following the path of another just because it is there? How long will you complain about the path you are on before you decide to forge ahead on a path of your own?

"If you don't make a choice, the choice makes you." ~ Ghost Rider (Nicholas Cage)

If you don't know the answers to why you are on your path, start finding them. Not making a choice is a choice. The path you are on is helping to create you and your life. If you're not happy maybe it's time for a new path. Start asking questions so you can find the answers. The more clear the questions the more clear your answers will be. Do not be afraid of the answers, they are only information to help you. So be brave and face them even if they aren't pretty. The reward will be worth it in the end.