The Road Less Taken

By Erica (Age 14, St. Paul's)

Though there is no documentation of this word in every dictionary printed, nor am I able to type this word out without being underlined in red, I am certain that the word crossroadsphobia exists. Maybe not literally, in black and white, but deep in our hearts. This term refers to the fear of crossroads, or rather, the phobia of making big decisions. I am no psychologist, but ask any teenage who is about to decide on his or her career choice whether he/she has crossroadsphobia. Nine out of ten will give you a positive answer.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons

To be truthful, I still have no idea what I want to be when I grow up. There are just too many options to choose from, too many choices to make and the idea of doing the same thing for the rest of your life is quite intimidating and terrifying. Imagine choosing the wrong path for yourself and regretting your choice for the rest of your life. Let's say you work for thirty years, twelve months, and five days per week. That's a total of 7200 days, or 172,800 hours. In such a competitive and cutthroat world, the margin of error is very limited. You do one wrong thing or choose the wrong path once and you're heading for failure. If I were to choose between doing something that I have passion for or simply working for money and security, I would definitely choose the former one. Wasting all your time chasing after something that you don't even like is idiotic. However, this does not mean that I am not tempted to do what everybody wants or expects me to. Sticking to the mainstream is always a no-brainer and the chances of failing are lower. Why take the risk when there is an almost foolproof way out?

One of the main factors why people are reluctant to create their own career path and break free from what their parents' had previously established is the fear of failing. The chances of failure people face when they create something new are relatively higher than those going for the more taken route. When you travel along the road less taken, there is completely no assurance and no guarantee you will succeed. You are thrust into a space of emptiness, a place where everything is possible if you work hard enough and, though not necessarily, have the luck. You will have to work very hard in order to gain respect from your social circle and you may enjoy less comfort and financial security, not to mention more worries and pressures.

There is significant difference in the answers given by a child and a more mature teenager when they are presented with the never-ending question: "What do you want to be when you grow up?" When I asked my sister the same question, she replied, "A policewoman, so there will be no baddies in the world." I didn't have the heart to tell her that justice doesn't always win over darkness every time. When I asked my friends the same question, I was bombarded with "doctors", "lawyers", "bankers", and "engineers." I know I don't have the right to judge, yet I couldn't help but wonder how many of them really wanted to do these jobs for the rest of their lives.

The belief that you cannot excel in anything you don't have a passion for is absolutely true. In school, lessons that do not interest you seem to drag on forever and no matter how hard you try, the grades for that particular subject never improve drastically. On the other hand, time passes like an arrow if you're attending your favorite class and even without deliberately cramming all the notes into your head, you just do better in it. Without an interest in what you are doing, it is impossible to generate good results from it. Passion is the element that drives you to strive for better results each time. As the lyrics for the famous Bon Jovi song goes, "It's my life, it's now or never. I ain't gonna live forever." No way am I going to chase after somebody else's dreams and aspirations for me, nor am I willing to take a path everybody opts for just because it's easier. "Be the change you want to see in the world," Gandhi said once. I'm still confused about my future and any goals that I set now may be subject to change due to my fickleness. You may see my name on a banker's business card, at the top of a TIME article or on the cover of a book. Yet, despite all these uncertainties and guessing, there is one thing that I know for sure: You only get to live once.