The Left, the Right, and the Chosen

This is a short statement and series of questions for anyone wondering what comes next in their life or what to do in a complicated situation.

You’ve come to a fork in the road. The Left appears just as Behind. The Right is something more of a question. All had been direct and simple up until this point, but no longer. Take a careful look at your two options ahead. Stop and consider the decision without straying left or right for a time as long as you see fit. In the end, you need only ask yourself these few questions.

The Left is ahead of you now. The only difference in its sameness is its newness. Looking over your shoulder to see Behind and then forward again makes little difference in what you see.  It stands to be said that there is a comfort of sorts in the familiar. But “nothing ventured” and all that. For all intents and purposes, you know you would be safe, or at least used to, with the Left. What may have been behind will surely continue to the Left, as it is nothing more than a continuation of the Behind. Are you one to take comfort in the familiarity of the known?

            Turning now to the Right, you see it to be intimidating and uncertain. All the while, it is new and undeniably enticing. It may be your best option, but it may also be you worst idea to date. You could only ever hope to find your way with the Right. You may. You may not. But the Right is there, or somewhere, whether you choose to pursue it or no. Today may be the point of no return for your Right, but there is no telling if this “Right” is right for you. At least not until you try. This a risk we must take at times, though many are too afraid to venture that way. If you go Right and lose yourself, Right was wrong and it only becomes more of what is Behind in the end. The search continues. Or it doesn’t. It is your call, after all.  Are you one to take risk and find welcome in an unfamiliar place?

All your life, you may have been told to seek only that which is Right. Leave all that is Behind you behind and beware the repeating mistakes of the Left. But the Right can be a tiresome road. Many pursue the Right for a lifetime or two and never quite make their way. History, precedent, experience, and the stories told by friends, family, and strangers alike all begin to sound the same in eventuality:

“I searched. I found. I loved and lost and loved one last time. The Right time.”

Or

“I searched and found nothing. I searched until I was Left with only myself.”

But this is your story, not anyone else’s. You could live to repeat the age old stories, or you could write your own history. Ignore the Left, Behind, and Right. Let no proverb or sentiment tell you Left from Right. You could strive to find your own way and choose you own fate. Or…do as you please. Follow the sameness of the Left and the Behind, gamble on the Right and hope those stories have all been true, or Choose. Choose to make you own way. Are you one to take only the fates presented to you? Or are you one to take control of your own fate, yet to be seen?

Author's Note

All critiques/thoughts welcome. This is my first posted writing of any sort.