Too many times throughout the day/week/month/my
life, lol, I wish that I could write a book. I'm honestly not really sure what
this book would be about, or if anybody would ever read or buy it but I love to
write. I love to share with others the
things I’m thinking about or the things I’ve done or basically whatever pops into my
head. I’ve known about blogs for quite
some time but honestly never really took the time to look into it much. However, as a result of this past month, I
have decided to give it a try. I love to
journal and the past few weeks I began re-reading entries that I had written a
few years ago. As I relived some of my
experiences, remembered some of my past thoughts and recalled some of my first
meetings with people, I realized how much I wanted to be able to share some of
these stories and the people that I’ve met and come to love along the way with
others. I oftentimes think that many of
us consider our lives to be too dull, uneventful, uninspiring and hardly worth
writing about, but honestly, sharing stories and experiences is such a major
part of everyone’s life. It’s through
our stories and life experiences that we connect with people, find common
ground, understand not only each other but ourselves better, make long-lasting
friendships and overall, find more joy in life.
In my opinion, some events are just too awesome to keep private, some
moments are just too epic to not be told, some challenges are just too relate-able to disregard, some people are just too memorable to not write about,
and some stories are just too funny to not laugh at.
Although
I realize that my life is not exactly the most exciting thing to read about, I
do believe that there are things that people would enjoy hearing about. From my epic Ashley-fail moments, to my crazy
adventures, to the comical/awkward situations in which I find myself, to the
spiritual and inspiring moments I’ve been blessed to experience, to all the
wonderful and inspiring individuals that I have met, I do believe that I have
something worthwhile to share. If
through reading what I write makes you smile, feel more hopeful, helps you get
through the day, realize that someone else has had dumber moments than you or
if it simply entertains you in some way then I’ve accomplished something.
And so, if
you choose to finish reading through the rest of this post and even continue
following future posts, I truly hope and pray that you find it well worth your
time.
At this
point, I am currently considering telling you a little bit about myself in order
to give you the necessary background information needed to understand future
posts...but, I believe that I will save all of that for my next entry. For now, I find that stating my reasons and
desires for starting this blog are sufficient and so to end this post I would
like to spend just a little bit of time explaining the title of my blog.
For those
of you who did not quite understand it, my title is gleaned from the poem The
Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. This is,
by far, my very favorite poem ever. The
theme of this poem is so powerful and the principles behind it so inspiring that
I decided to make it my theme as well. In
quick summary, the poem starts out with a traveler remembering how he once came
upon two roads that “diverged in a yellow wood.” And as he stood there for a long while, deciding
which path to take, he looked closely at each.
One road, “bent in the undergrowth;” the other “having perhaps the
better claim because it was grassy and wanted wear.” The traveler wishes he could have traveled both, but knowing “how
way leads on to way, [he] doubted if [he] should ever come back.” And so he makes a choice, which is revealed in
the last sentence. “Two roads diverged
in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the
difference.” In our lives we always encounter
diverging roads and each day we choose which road we are going to travel. Although we quite often wish we could travel
both of them, we must choose one, and unfortunately, it is usually much easier
to take the road more traveled by instead of the one that “wanted wear.” However, from my experiences, I can promise that taking the road less traveled by is, by far, the more rewarding. I have been asked several times in the past
few years what my philosophy of life is, and, to be honest, this poem is my
answer. Life, for me, is about taking
the road less traveled by and realizing that by doing so, it did indeed make
all the difference.
