Fork in the road

I came across a fork in the road, given two options upon where to go with my life, and found it difficult to choose. To my left lay the road of familiarity. When I looked upon it, I knew precisely what to expect. There were no secrets, no hidden plans. But as I looked upon it, I felt dread in my heart. Knowing the path upon which it would lead me, I saw little to look forward to. I could not see myself making great strides in my life, or achieving dreams which I had held. But I knew that I would get by. I knew that that path would give me the tools to be able to live to some extent. But what was life if one did not take chances?

To my right lay the road of uncertainty. It was shrouded in darkness, and spread far and wide. Far in the distance on the road I could see a light, and from it I felt warmth. I could feel greatness calling out to me, but as I tried to pinpoint where exactly it came from, I found that I could not. I could feel that besides the light there were many darkness, cold and unwelcoming. A single wrong turn could potentially lead to my demise. And yet, I found the light so powerful, so calling. I could not deny that I wanted to reach it.

I turned around to see where I had come from, and along came another man, who looked much like me, but older, wiser. In his eyes I could see a distance which I had yet to experience. "Who are you?" I asked this man.

"I believe you should know better than I," the man replied.

"If you are who I think you are, I do not see how I could know who you are better than you. For if you are who I think, that would make you me, but from far in the future. Far past this fork, having already made your decision. Yet, when I look at you, I cannot fathom which road you may have taken."

"You are right in that I am you. But do not let appearances fool you. Just because I come from ahead, does not make me wiser than you. We are one in the same, my old friend. I often look back upon my decisions, as will you, and contemplate what I might have become had I made the other choice. You will ask me for advice, but I can not give it to you. Only you can decide, my child. For only you can decide what man I am."

I looked away from this man and back once more at the roads before me. "I am scared," I mused aloud. "I feel as though whichever road I choose, I will fail."

"You will not fail," my future self told me. "Failure is but a concept which we use to scare ourselves away from what we need. You do not fail. You learn. And you grow. And you will continue to be scared, and you will look back upon your decisions, and you will become me. And only then will you truly understand how powerful we are, for we made a decision, and as much as it scared us, we moved onward."

I did not fully understand his words at the time, but they resonated with me. Somewhere, deep inside, I knew that he was right, and that it was time. Almost as if on their own, my feet began to move forward, toward the path I knew that I must take.

And I was scared.

And I felt weak.

But I moved forward.