Walking all night, a pitch-black night encompassing years and years of my life, what I lacked in vision, I more than made up for in stamina. Never arriving, I also never stopped moving. Yes, it’s very easy to follow a guide’s directions when all they consist of is, “One foot in front of the other.”
These words, however, mark a stop. For the first time in living memory, today, November 5th, I woke to a dawn that promised to live up to its name. There was light infiltrating beyond just my next step. That being the case, I paused and made note: from here, the road seemed to distinctly split into two.
Were it only up to my own two legs, I could immediately tell the choice they would make. The only problem, as I quickly learned, was that this was a land of strong, variable winds. A man could very easily be blown down a path not of his own choosing, able to steer himself with only the occasional bouncing foothold. Making a decision, all things considered, requires more than just a single choice in time; a momentary vote. Enduring decisiveness is required. Sometimes, your fate chooses you first, and then, and only then, you’re given a chance to decide: do you choose it back?
Oh, undecided life, I see two fates spread out before me. My feet have chosen; they prefer family, home, peace, tradition, free expression, stable creation. I begin to walk that way. But in this new dawn, bright as it is, I now live with eyes truly open. I know another possible fate might also be waiting to catch me. Before the day is done, I very well could find myself as an exile, blown from the path of my own choosing, cast off in spirit (if not in fact) from the only land I’ve ever known. Be that as it may, I have made my decision. I now await that of the gods. And once I have learned of theirs, I will decide for myself a second time, if necessary.