Choices

“I took the one less travelled by,

And that made all the difference.”

These lines from the poem ‘The Road Less Travelled’ by Robert Frost shed light on the choice made by the poet to take the path not frequented by many.

Options and choices are an integral part of our life’s journey. Very often it is said that our life is the culmination of the choices we make. The options presented to us during various stages of our lives are many.

We choose, depending on out intellect, environment, conditioning etc. Whether these choices are the right ones or lead us to our doom, we come to know only as life goes by.

We have options in our relationships, beliefs, education, career choices, health, passions, hobbies ……the list goes on.

As children, our parents usually make choices for us.

The right age to go to school, toilet training, milk bottle v/s breastfeeding, these are all choices made for us by our parents.

But as we grow, we begin to have an opinion about everything. How often we have heard young mothers lament that their child is highly ‘opinionated’ not realizing that it is a natural progression of life to form opinions.

Once a child enters school, he makes a choice of subjects, teachers whom he likes/dislikes, whether he wants to play sports or a musical instrument and most importantly, he chooses his friends. It is rightly said that friends are the family we choose.

As one grows older, higher education, a choice of career, matters of the heart all come to the fore.

Whether one wants to be a professional, business man, artist, film star, singer…….is again a choice one makes.

Whether he/she wants a long term commitment with a single partner, or wants to remain fancy-free is again his/her choice.

Same goes for one’s sexual preference.

Movies, parties, cards, philanthropy, charity are options and what one picks, is one’s choice.

Another important choice that people make is their religious beliefs. While some may believe in idol worship and rituals, others may opine that service to humanity is the best prayer. Some may choose to believe that only God decides the course of our life while another may simply choose to be an atheist.

While it is okay to make choices, conflicts arise when there is a difference of opinion and subsequently choices between parents and kids, siblings, romantic partners and friends.

Then one has to again make a choice. Either he/she values the relationship over his/her choice or holds his ground.

So……choose well, think for yourself and do not blindly follow the herd.

Good luck with your choices. If you choose to read this, please leave a comment!!