Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken

I was first introduced to this poem of Robert Frost by my intellectual father at the age of 12. At first I could not understand why he was being emphatic and passionate about it, as if his own life's conviction is reeking out of his pores while reciting the lines of this poem, especially the last stanza . I couldn't understand. I didn't understand.

For years I have come across the same poem occasionally. Now that I'm 28, as I traveled more uncharted roads than the normal office-based 28-year old, I am learning to appreciate more this poem. Perhaps with the kind of exposure I have in terms of traveling around the country, meeting and seeing different tribes/people... I am blessed to have seen, touched, heard, smelled, and tasted a lot. A LOT. A lot of people, places, food, feelings, emotions, plights, battles, conflicts, politicking, pakikisama, pakikitungo, illness, diarrhea, dehydration, bad accommodations, surots, ill-fitting boots, rain, cold weather, burning sun, harassment, taunts, saltwater, freshwater, seafood, exotic animals... You name it, more or less I've experienced it. But if there's one thing I have not experienced, that is being left by the plane! I may be late in many things but I haven't been left behind by a plane... YET. Hahaha.

I find these experiences rewarding because not everyone gets to experience this kind of "raw-ness" when it comes to work. I am very fortunate that my job lets me do things that I love while being paid for it. It's like being a rock star or an actor/actress: getting paid to do the things you love doing. Though not all the time it's oh-i-love-my-job feeling. I also get stuck in many problems concerning work. But I believe with the right set of people management skills and time management, many things become manageable. Difficult yes, but still manageable.

Anyway, here's the poem by Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken.

image from http://marksrichardson.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/road-less-traveled.jpg