The Road Less Traveled: Forging Your Own Path To Better The World
“The person who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The person who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever seen before.” ~ Albert Einstein
It Takes Courage To Walk The Road Less Traveled
The renowned physicist Albert Einstein once spoke those inspiring words about the power of individuality. He knew that you must have the courage to walk your own road, the road less traveled, to make genuine discoveries, blaze new trails, or realize your unique potential.
Forces Try To Coral Our Thoughts
Albert Einstein’s observation about conformity rings true now more than ever. In our hyper-connected world, peer pressure and societal expectations dictate so many life choices. From our jobs and hobbies to political and spiritual beliefs, we face immense forces pushing us to follow the herd.
Dare To Walk The Road Less Traveled
But then we miss out on the radical potential within each of us waiting to be unlocked. All the pioneers, artists, scientists, and leaders who shaped civilization were, at some point, a minority of one. By daring to walk the road less traveled, unafraid to stand out or be ridiculed, we uncovered new lands of the mind that the crowd could never have reached.
Follow Your Heart ~ Be True To Your Soul
The temptation of comfort, approval, and security walking alongside others is immense. Every one of us knows the sting of going against the grain. However, following your heart is the only way to remain true to your soul in a world that is constantly asking you to conform.
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” ~ Steve Jobs
Safety In Numbers Is Not Safe
It’s human nature to want to conform, to seek safety in numbers and the approval of others. But history shows the significant advancements in human knowledge and achievement come from those rare few willing to leave the well-trodden path and push into the wilderness alone.
Bedrock Values Can Not Be Shaken
Too often, we allow society and its “normal” standards to untether us from what we know to be right, just, and true in our hearts. We must plant our feet firmly into what has been instilled in us from youth by grace or family – that bedrock values no outside influence can change.
Crowds Care Not About Your Dreams
After all, the crowd cares nothing for the hopes, dreams, or convictions that set your spirit ablaze. Why should their approval determine your choices?
You May Walk Alone ~ You are Never Alone
Yes, it takes radical courage to turn your back on the noisy thoroughfares of conventional thought and take the road untraveled. Established institutions and authority figures may mock your ambitions. Old friends may fade away. Financial security could be jeopardized. The greater world may not understand you. But God and the Universe are with you.
It Only Takes One Person
But all pioneers met resistance. To the world, desperate to maintain itself, genuine novelty is a threat. Yet one person with enough conviction and creativity has the power to prove the world wrong.
Great Minds Follow the Truth
Consider pioneering scientists like Marie Curie or Nikola Tesla, great explorers like Amelia Earhart or Neil Armstrong, and thinkers like Aristotle or Galileo. They followed the truth and their passion wherever it led, regardless if it went against the grain or beliefs of their time.
Observe The World Through Your Eyes
Of course, that’s not to say you can’t learn wisdom from others on your journey. Even the most solitary pioneers stand on the shoulders of giants before them, building on past discoveries. But at a certain point, you have to close their books, forget the premade maps, and observe the world for yourself.
People Have Been Proven Wrong ~ History Repeating
Do your own research, and do not allow others to lead you down the path of their “truth.” After all, science has been wrong before; people have been wrong. Is the world flat? It once was thought to be true. Do all the planets revolve around the Earth? That, too, was supposed to be true. Is the smallest particle an Atom? No, we have since learned that subatomic particles exist. And so it goes.
Follow Your Hearts Adventurous Spirit
The next big breakthrough might be waiting just off the edge of the old maps, hidden in places nobody else bothered looking. With an adventurous spirit and determination, you might be the first one to glimpse these new lands.
Walk With Courage Ask Questions
So don’t be afraid to question assumptions, think different thoughts, try different paths. If you walk alone with courage and an open mind, who knows what places you might discover along the way. The crowd will likely miss the road, so you’ll have to forge that road yourself. But if Einstein was right, that road less traveled could lead you to something incredible.
Bravery and Beliefs Equals Positive Transformation
With bravery and belief in your highest self, you cannot predict how much your gifts can transform the crowd. Every cause worth fighting for was once supported by a lonely, ridiculed minority bound together by belief in a better way for humanity.
Listen To The Wisdom Of your Soul ~ Learn From The Past
Of course, charging blindly down an uncharted road can also lead one astray. Independent thought for its own sake is not the goal. Listening to your soul’s wisdom takes discernment to separate from reactive ego desires.
Travel The Path Of Patience
Patience is needed, too, as your path reveals itself gradually. Trusted mentors can provide a compass against getting lost. Most of all, living authentically requires brutal self-honesty.
You Have The Courage Deep Within
But once you hear the call deep within beckoning you down the road less traveled, take courage and follow with an open mind. With luck, you may find yourself in places nobody has ever seen before, returned with hard-won treasures to share. After all, the horizon constantly expands for those with the grit to seek it.
Your Ancestors Sacrificed For Your Freedoms
As Einstein knew, crowds are not the source of society’s growth but rather brave individuals willing to leave the pack behind. Our families did not sacrifice so we could simply fit in, but rather to give us the freedom to walk our own road.
Have Faith In The Power Of Your Potential
What is outlined for you by others could never satisfy the true potential life has instilled uniquely in you. Have faith in that potential. Only by taking the untraveled road can we begin to pave the way for others to follow.
My Wish For You
I hope that you have the courage to make up your own mind. To be independent, to find the strength to walk the road less traveled.
Be that positive difference in the world and always speak the truth.
Are you ready to walk?
