Essay Example on Life's Crossroads: Making Difficult Decisions

Every day, every moment, there are thousands of decisions made like which train to ride, which event to attend, and which clothes to wear. People go through these choices perfunctorily and automatically. Furthermore, though, particular moments are fundamental, moments that influence the rest of an individual's life. Choices turns out to be difficult when the options before an individual are enthralling equally, but only with one path being chosen. However, the irony is that even as one path is selected over another, the unselected path turns out to be mysterious and more alluring, as one would never know who has led.

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The poem "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost explores the symbolic of one's choice that must be made in life with intentions of foreseeing the outcome before reaching the end, then it is all about selecting the path in the woods. The poem does so by looking at the mystery and magnetism of paths that were not chosen.

The two roads symbolize the life of a man and his entire choices in life. Here, the poem explores life because, in life, there are pivotal choices that may make a significant change as occasionally it is difficult to find a way out of something as there are lots of probable ways one may do it. In the poem, we are introduced to the two roads to take, but a man who was Robert is not sure of the path to choose. Here, we get to learn that it is a real-life choice and not a decision between two roads.

In the poem, the line "I shall be telling this with a sigh," Robert displays signs of remorse, which means that he made a wrong choice. Therefore, one should know that not all decisions should be thought out clearly o overthought. In life, sometimes we make the wrong choices too. Through depending on time, people cannot really lookup that why they made a mistake. In such cases, people should be more careful about their decisions. What one decides today affects his or her future in various ways. Sometimes the decisions one makes may be wrong in a better way than standing and not at all choosing anything. However, no matter the outcome of the traveler in the poem, he knew that he still had to make a decision and make the best of it. In reality, there is no wrong or right path, as there are only outcomes and decisions in life.

Another critical point to ponder in the poem is that not only can an individual take only one path and live one life, but also, he or she is imbued with the capacity of imagining. The imagination has the power to generate a diversity of versions based on his or her life that one could have lived but did not. The traveler scrutinizes both of the roads based on the responsibilities of where they might have taken him for his travels and later understands that regret is unavoidable. Irrespective of the traveler's choice, he knew that he would miss the experiences that he might have met on that road not taken. The use of images in the poem reflects difficulties of the choice the traveler faces, and this difficult is revealed in "long I stood" (3).

In the poem "The Road Not Taken," Frost argues that the paths are regarded as a symbolic of life choices. By this, he portrays the message making everyone have a strong concept of what he or she was going through. As the it ends, some regrets are showing how the decision might have impacts on one's life and whom one becomes as a person. Therefore, showing that difficulty of choices, sometimes one may have to "let fate take the lead." The roads portray that it does not matter the way that is chosen but rather the best.

Additionally, no matter how happy as well as content an individual seems to be in the chosen path, the mystery of the "The road not taken" never fails to entice and allure the imagination. Through alliteration, metaphor, imagery in the poem, it makes a critical life-changing choice between the two paths. The difference between two is indeed limited by an individual's imagination, and the longing exacerbated through mystery.

There are many encounters and experiences everyone shall face but not just once or twice but repetitively in peoples' undermined life. By nature, humanity is subject to struggle, but people have driven and compelled to strive. In life, there is defeat, and all will fell each possible alternative being not accessible. When individuals face defeat in life, it opens for experience and learning and, therefore, prepares for themselves not to be defeated.

The first stanza displays the mood of change and introduces the concept of a life-altering decision, and that stands for the poem's basis. Once one decides to travel in a certain way, he or she cannot travel back in time and select the other path. Therefore, one needs to be very cautious and observant while making choices as well as choosing the path that will not be regrettable. Life is full of numerous choices, some are predetermined, and others chosen immediately. The use of the path in the poem is a metaphor describing the decisions that individuals make. Sometimes great choices are affecting the rest of the individual's life, whether they do not or know it.

Robert shows a particular moment where an individual choice would change the course of a one's life. It is believed that based on the path chosen by an individual, his or her life will become better or worse. For students, the "road" is what key they will choose, and this would help decide their outcome in the future. The title emphasizes on "the road not taken." The emphasis if Robert's way of making people think as they read the poem, no matter the way they choose to go, a road will constantly remain not chosen.

Choices are everywhere, some there, some here, some not so sound and other good. Also, the poem uses one path symbolizing influence of tradition based on choice, which is symbolized by a clean and worn pathway. "Though as for the passing there/ had worn them really about the same" (Frost 9-10) shows that several individuals have passed through similar way, which had been worn down symbolizing the same choice taken so and was now a tradition.

Moreover, "exclamation point after line 13" shows excitement, although the excitement is detached by Frost's admission in the lines. " Way leads on to way; I doubted if I should ever come back" (line 13 to 15). Again, in the last stanza, "lines 16 to 20", the poem's tone seems to change completely. The only stanza starting with a new sentence showing a more substantial break from the last ideas.

It is true to say that the persona weighs his or her options and has some problems selecting the right path. Moreover, the poem has excellent knowledge of feeling; when people choose the path, which is right in life, they will live happily. People should often sit back, reflecting on all the choices they have made in their entire life. They still wonder whether it was the correct decision for them during that particular moment. We are all at some point in life, pondering at the imaginative questions, "What if?" life is all about decisions, and making the correct decision makes a significant difference.

The second stanza completely contradicts the story. If an individual is fair compared to the other, then how may one become better than another in the claim. It is confusing as one may not figure out the idea and mainly the contradiction. However, there is some ambiguity springing the question of determinism versus free will. If the persona consciously chooses to take the road that was off the beaten track or does such a due lack of fancy on the road having the bend. Frost tells of all that did not take place as the man faced with a critical decision, chooses the least popular, which was the path based on the most resistance.

One should make a decision swiftly and be confident with what he or she chooses. In life, we will meet choices; when making a decision, we need to make a choice that is best from our choice. It is how people choose and how they deal with what is down the path that makes them who they are. Every person meets hard decisions and feels the struggles in choosing the right path to place his or her life. The two paths critically symbolized the consequences and choices that the persona had to choose. In the line "and sorry I could not travel both "clearly shows how hard it was for the persona to make a decision.

Metaphors used in the poem enables readers to recognize that decisions are connected to the overall theme. Throughout the entire poem, Frost has discussed the idea of making decisions in a manner that is melancholic. The dreams to take the other path someday seemed crushed by reality according to (13) "Oh, I marked the first for another day!" The decision that he finally made had already affected his future decisions according to line (14-15) "Yet knowing how way leads on to way/ I doubted if I should ever come back." In the poem, the speaker tries to show people that the decisions they make in life should be selected very carefully because there is no turning back. Also, in that last stanza, it tells of what the traveler expects to feel though time was not yet.

Lastly, the literal meaning if the poem "The road not Taken" is pretty obvious. After thoughtful debate, the man picked the road that was "less traveled by." The Figurative meaning is also not much unseen either. From the poem, it explains how people stand by tough choices when one goes through his or her life. Words such as "sigh" and "sorry" made the poem rather gloomy.

Conclusion

Almost each and every person experience life's bumpy road, and the speaker in the poem shows that there is never one single path to choose, and therefore it is just a complicated maze. The title of the poem clearly shows that it is all about decisions and obstacles in one's life and how the individual handles them. Frost's use of literary devices such as symbolism and metaphor and tone, helps understand the entire poem.