Adventure Or Risk? ‘The Road Less Traveled By’.

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 traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost

If you claim to never make New Year Resolutions, if you say they’re a waste of time as no one follows through on them, there is still the excitement of the possibilities a brand new year brings; the promise of a clean slate, an opportunity to write a new chapter in your life, to set out on a  path in a completely different direction.  A chance to make a change in your life and world can be absolutely invigorating!

I had been thinking about change in terms of ‘risk taking’, but I now prefer calling it ‘adventure’ instead. I thought of my life about 20 years ago, when I had decided to go on an adventure—to change my surroundings. I had been living by myself in a small town when the opportunity arose to move to the country–cornfields, cows, dusty roads and plenty of space. An ‘abandoned’ house was mine for the taking, I only had to pay my own electric, phone, and water–no rent! In return I had a 3 bedroom house with a large living/dining room, kitchen, and bath, about 1 mile from a river. I, and the farmer who owned the house and the land, came to a verbal agreement, and for the next 3 months, after work and on weekends, I cleaned, painted, and with help, emptied the house of trash and junk. I hung blinds, patched cracks, scraped up old vinyl flooring, stained the wood floors, swept animal bones off the back porch, and tried to eradicate an army of mice…that turned out to be an on-going battle.

After moving my things in, I had the place to myself and experienced such a sense of accomplishment, serenity, and independence. Accomplishment because I had weighed my options, and arrived at a decision. Independence because I had the guts to make the move, and serenity because, well, you can’t have anything but tranquility when you look out your front window and all you see is a doe and her fawns in the cornfield, and the only noise your neighbors make is a low, mooing sound.

Last week I wrote about how you do have the ability to choose to live an intentional life, to make deliberate choices. It could be the life changing election to leave those unhealthy, chemically-laden liquid shampoos in a cloud of dust in your rear-view mirror, and steer towards J.R.LIGGETT’S environmentally-friendly Shampoo Bar and body products. Whatever change you make in your life, be sure to enjoy your journey down the road.

After putting a pretty face on that country house, I lived in it just shy of 3 months; but half the fun was the getting there— being brave enough to take an ‘adventurous risk’ for something different, something better, something new–my own, ‘road less traveled’.

Plan now for big things down the road. Expect big things for the future. Go ahead… make it happen!

 (note: in the above photo, I actually got lost in the forest, but I eventually found my way back home. Failure? No, adventure–and I had a story to tell!)　

Joy Richter  2012                  ©copyright 2012 J.R.LIGGETT LTD