Crossroads

Life is too often, hence unoriginally, compared to a journey, though I am sure that people are a lot happier at the end of a trip than when they reach the end of their life. Also no one can pick the starting and ending points of their metaphorical journey.

Still, between departure and arrival there's plenty of different terrains. The road could be anything between a slick expressway and a rugged narrow path twisting among stunted, thorny bushes. However, especially troublesome to me are the crossroads.

Decisions are always tough since one can never be sure of what lying ahead. With hindsight, it's really tempting to pat oneself in the back when things go well or regret one's own choice when the going gets rough. Either way I would say it's not the right attitude to take.

So far I have faced a few crossroads, the most recent ones being quitting a good job, rejecting another good job to accept a position which was poorer paid but of a totally different nature, then becoming an entrepreneur. It hasn't been all roses to follow the path I had chosen, but I had a blast spending several months to travel, gained some insight about a new line of work (then quickly got tired of it), and got to be on the employer's side of a business which opened my eyes to quite a novel view.

I admit that I've got my knees skinned and my arms pricked since at my crossroads I veered from highways to follow dirt trails, but at the same time I have immensely enjoyed the scenery. Never once did I feel compelled to revisit my decisions, for on this journey of life I am more interested in accumulating experiences than in the more popular sorts of achievement. It's my journey and my own life, after all.