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I recently finished a particularly thought provoking book by M. Scott Peck called ‘The Road Less Travelled’.  Apparently, it’s a real classic, and was first published many years ago. The book is about spiritual growth and how it’s much easier to do nothing to improve your lot in life, than it is to stand up and say “I’m worth more than this”, and then go on to take the steps needed to bring about positive change. The author is a psychologist and has witnessed, on many occasions, the apathy of most individuals. They would rather remain in unfulfilling relationships and do unchallenging and unsatisfying jobs, than risk rocking the boat.

Okay, I hear you all saying – so what’s this got to do with us? Well, I think that in seeking spiritual answers to your problems and questioning what you have been taught by society, you have chosen to walk the road less travelled. Be warned, this is not an easy path – it is steep, it is jagged and there are rocks strewn all around.

Doing nothing is easy, change is hard. Why not just settle for less? Why not just accept that for you, this is the most life has to offer? Everybody around you seems to be satisfied with just putting in the hours and collecting their pay cheque. They seem to think that the minimum wage is all that they can achieve, and sign their lives away on 25 year mortgages and debt consolidation loans. They are glad to get four weeks holiday a year, and steal an odd day off pretending they’re sick.

They have made their choice, and it’s enough for them. They’ve joined the masses on life’s highway and are too busy keeping their head down and just getting by to notice that life has anything more to offer. You, on the other hand, have raised your head up and looked to the horizon. You have glimpsed another way. You have seen individuals dotted here and there, dropping out of the trudging mass and looking about them with a strange expression on their faces. Relief, excitement, happiness or maybe it is hope.

Suddenly, before you fully realised what was happening you had pushed through the crowd, and broken free of the many. Like us, you had chosen to walk with the few. Other people wonder why you do it, why you choose to expose yourself to the risks on that road, surely it’s better to follow everyone else. But that life is not for me, and something tells me it is not for you either. It doesn’t matter if you stumble or fall, it doesn’t matter if you can’t walk as fast as others, and it doesn’t matter if you sometimes feel lost or unsure of which direction to take. What matters is that you are embracing life.

It’s not your imagination – the air is sweeter, the water purer, the sun hotter, the winds colder, the whole world is suddenly more exuberant. Yes, it’s hard work. Yes, it’s risky. Yes, it could get a lot worse before it gets any better. But, I’m glad I took this road. I don’t mind if it challenges me, I don’t care if I keep slipping, and I’m not bothered if I can’t get there today. I am happy just to be on the journey. Look at that blue sky, feel the warmth of that sun, breathe in that pure air – isn’t life grand? Don’t hesitate, don’t waste another moment, and don’t throw away your life on someone else’s dream. Come walk with us on the road less travelled.

By: Suzanne Vincent