Two Roads Diverged in a Wood

"Two roads diverged in a wood," wrote Robert Frost, "and I? I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference."

All of life is a choice, isn't it? To be or not to be, as Shakespeare framed it. To choose happiness or to look for it where it could only ever be temporarily found? To enter life, or to live on its periphery? To walk a spiritual path or to mistakenly think that, by going to a church, synagogue or temple, you'll arrive where you long to be? To read and reflect on such words as these or to simply skim over them in a hurry to find something more interesting?

Why not choose today to enter more deeply into whatever appears before you on your journey? Instead of rushing headlong into an imagined agenda of importance, why not pay attention to Destiny's agenda?

Is what shows up in your life today simply some random accident?

Another choice you must decide. So is it, or is it not?

For me, what shows up does so in order to take me up to a higher level of consciousness. To guide me more deeply into Presence itself. Or, to enable me to take life by the hand, as well as to take others by their hand, and enter more fully into everything, as well as everyone.

I'm hardly there yet. But, if you think I'm self-absorbed today, you should've met me ten years ago.

Mark Nebo put it like this: "Being half anywhere is the true beginning of loneliness." I've been lonely most of my life. Why? I know why. Because I've lived half connected to everything.

The loneliness you feel within is the consequence of being halfway present within yourself. Why not decide now to be more fully present everywhere? By starting within yourself?

Jesus said, "Love yourself..." What does that mean? It means to take your time at learning to be with the one person without whom you could never be happy-yourself. This is the secret to improving all other relationships, too. How could you ever love someone else when you despise yourself? Or, be with someone else when you can't stand being with yourself?

Know that your journey...your journey into this day...has secrets to reveal to you. don't be content to see the sun go down on today but what you rise up with some new understanding, some new awareness, a deeper sense of peace, greater joy, or grander awareness of Life itself.

This is a choice you're making now. The road you take. Your destiny is unfolding. Trust that even your reading of this today is Destiny's reminder that secrets await you today. Stop. Stay alert. Don't miss Life. This is the secret of happiness, the road that makes all the difference. It is precisely why Lao Tzu said, "The journey of a thousand miles begins with this step."

I've put up an entire post on my blog about this (and written a whole book about this and other matters related to the spiritual life), and I'd love to share some of the things I've learned with you. To get started, visit this article I recently posted at my blog http://www.stevemcswain.com/blog.

View the original article here