Robert Frosts epic poem, “The Road Not Taken“, is probably best known for the concluding lines in the poem:

Two roads diverged in a wood and I –
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

These lines have commonly been used to depict things like seizing the day, not doing what everyone else is doing or taking the unbeaten path. Many of us love and, deep inside, long to be those who take the ‘unbeaten’ path and seize the day with a ‘devil-may-care’ approach.

However, in 2013 a position at work was offered to me that made the poem take on a different meaning. I was asked to assume the role of Director of Sales for EMEA. This commitment involved relocating as a family to England.

• Would staying in the USA and continue in my career the best choice? Looked like a pretty good option to me. I had a great job that I loved, my family was settled with friends and our girls were in a great school.
• Would going to the UK and beginning a new career as Director of Sales be the best choice? Looked like a pretty good option to me. I would have a new career path that is challenging, our family would get a unique opportunity to bond and it is a once in a lifetime opportunity for all of us.

One of the common comments when we tell others about our life-changing adventure is, “How exciting!” And it usually is. But for me that excitement of moving to Europe was tempered with the reality that by not staying in the USA another, equally exciting, path has been forsaken. And that is where the poem began to speak more deeply to me. Here is the third stanza of his poem:

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

A number of sites have suggested that perhaps Robert was talking about the reality that both roads where equally good choices. That was certainly what it felt like to me. My reality was that I could not travel down both roads. In deciding to move to Europe, I set myself and our family on a journey, a path, that will never look the same as if we had stayed in the US. This realization – that I cannot ever undo the choice I made – has made me appreciate the fact that far too often I…we…live with regrets over decisions made, as though somehow, if we could go back and undo them, our story would have turned out better. You and I will never know if it had been better…or worse.

Friend, you and I do not want to lead a life with regrets! The road you are on…is the road you are on. And when you come to a fork in the road…you will have to choose…once again. I invite you to join me on this road here on my site. This road called life. Eight years ago, two roads diverged for me and my family. My family and I made a choice. And that has made all the difference!

On the Road Taken,

Matthew Neigh