Path Less Taken

 Sometimes...  walking through a wooded area on a seldom used path can be invigorating as it reduces one's stress comuning with nature...  but, then there are the spiders...  the ticks...  the bees...  and the snakes that one may have to contend with...  and, the experience becomes not enjoyable at all...

THIS IS THE ROAD LESS TAKEN...

When I left high school, one of the lessons that he shared with me (and there were many) revolved around learning from those who came before you...  and, while that does make a lot of sense, it negates a lot of valuable experience on which you might miss out.

And, while I did learn a lot of valuable experience, my decision put me a good 10 years behind my peers who decided that they would get very little from those experiences...  looking back...  perhaps they were right...  but, I am still glad that I did what I did.

I don't know if you have heard this lesson or not but it's kinda like the turtle and the rabbit.  

Most days when I am in the car and going through a city, whether urban or rural, there is always a driver who has to take off fast from the red light...  so, he can get green on the next one and maybe green on the next one, but on the third one he catches the red.  

Interestingly, I am right there with him...  maybe a few cars behind...  but, I did not jump off the red light quickly, nor did I exceed the speed limit...  yet, I always catch up with them...  when going through a city.

It is humorous to watch these drivers because they never see me and know that I am right behind them and THEY HAVE GAINED NOTHING...

The same issue is present between me and my peers because even though I am 10 years behind them, I always catch up with them, and oftentimes surpass them...  sometime around half way through their careers.

It's true that I worked a little harder because I was behind, but that working harder is normal work for me...  at least during my career...  I am not that same kind of person now that I am retired.

My retirement is a little better or maybe the same as my peers because during the last 15 years of my career, I started planning for my retirement.  I planned for my retirement because that was one of the lessons that I learned when I took THE PATH LESS TAKEN.

What makes the photo at the beginning of this article a good one is not so much the subject matter but the use of light and dark to create contrast and depth of field...  this is what I learned from the path less taken.