A Choice of Paths
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Behind me is a long, sometimes treacherous, mostly uphill and occasionally burdensome path that has brought me from my youth to where I am now. There are things I would have done differently if I had known what the result would be, but I can't go back and change them, even if I wanted to. Since I recognize that, I'm learning to live with the mistakes I've made and to accept them as learning experiences. Some of my difficulties have left me with burdens I'm carrying, but I'm working on getting rid of them. I'm like a traveler who, in the folly of youth, has just come charging up an easy slope, picking up things to carry as he came along. When I reached the crest of the hill, I found that, instead of leveling off or continuing upward at an easier pace, the other side dropped off toward certain destruction. I managed to stop before reaching the edge, and now I'm traveling along cautiously beside it. To my left, the Mists of Oblivion swirl aimlessly across the Plains of Life. A note scrawled into the sands says "Drop your burdens and run away from them into the Mists." The folly of that is easy to see, however: After doing so, one would soon find that they never really knew where they were, or where they were going. I could never accept such a life. To my right is the Chasm of Certain Destruction, a direction I will definitely not head.

Before me lie three paths: One slightly to the left continues on this level, around the great Mountain before me. ... Of the three paths, I have already rejected one: The path to the left which continues on this level is labeled "Security," under which someone has added "(STAGNATION)." Before this path disappears around the bend and into the shrouds of the Future, it brushes the Mists of Oblivion many times. Once again, I have decided I could never accept such a life.

(continued...)