Decisions Choices

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference

Decisions -- Choices

So now I’m 86 years old, nearly 87. Most of my life is in the rear-view mirror. A recent sermon challenged me to think back to events that have changed my life. We all have things we have no control over such as when and where we were born, what chromosomes we were born with, to whom, when and where, and what is happening near us and around the world during our lifetime. But I want to concentrate on the decisions we make and how they affect and direct our lives.

When we are young children, most of us have parents and teachers who make the decisions for us; so we don’t have many decisions to make. We can learn from our parents and any other siblings how to behave, what is acceptable and what isn’t. We can decide whether to obey the rules or throw tantrums. We learn that there are rewards and consequences of our behavior, and things go better when we choose to cooperate and follow rules.

When we are school age, we can choose how to behave with other children, and which kids we like best to pal around with. We can choose how hard we will or won’t work to learn what is being taught and start to deal with the rewards and consequences of that decision. We can become aware of what interests us the most. While we are under the supervision of our parents and teachers, we are practicing and learning how to make the best decisions when we are adults and on our own. We are improving our skills in decision making. The better decisions we learn to make, the better our lives will be.

To make my point, I will tell you some of the main choices I have made. 1) I worked hard to learn and get good grades in school. 2) I decided to go to college, although in today’s world I might not have, because now too many of them feed you propaganda instead of truth. I would choose a trade school. 3) I chose to study history and then taught American history and the U S Constitution. 4) I chose when to quit teaching and was able to travel quite a bit. 5) I chose who I married, twice – the first time not so good, the 2nd amazing for nearly 40 years. 6) I’ve chosen where I live. 7) I’ve chosen which churches suit me and which one didn’t. 8) I’ve chosen to follow Jesus from my youth to today, and I believe He has guided the decisions I have made.

There are real rewards and consequences of the choices we make during our lifetime. Those decisions determine the road we choose from birth to the end of our earthly life and thereafter. I look back on my life and I know God has guided me, whether I realized it at the time and gave Him enough credit or not, I am so thankful for His guidance. I feel His hand in my decisions and I have no regrets. Of course there have been problems – that’s life! But if you chose to follow Jesus, He will guide you too. I know He has guided me.

I do need to add a warning: The extent to which we can make choices as adults is dependent upon the type of government we have. We are fortunate to live with a Constitutional democracy that assures our personal freedoms and right to own property. We can make decisions as to what we want to do with our life. If we lived in a country without these freedoms, we would be at the mercy of an all-powerful government that would tell us what we could and couldn’t become as adults, direct us like our parents and teachers did when we were kids, only not concerned with our welfare like our parents and teachers did. Our life choices would be limited. Socialism (communism) would tell you what to do; so you still wouldn’t have many choices to make. That’s why we need to do everything we can to keep our Constitutional government. When we are adults, we need to pay attention to what our government is doing and VOTE! Our government is only as good as we are as citizens who make the decision to pay attention and to vote. Without our Constitutional government, we would still have God to grant us strength! Our decisions wouldn’t matter much, except our personal decision to pray to and depend on Christ!

The most important decision we can make is to accept and depend on Jesus! He will guide each of you, as He has guided me!

Beverly Wright, retired teacher of American history and the U S Constitution. https://beverlywright.me