The Road Not Taken 

B Y  R OB ER T F R OS T
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Life is About Choices and the Decisions We Make

There are no guarantees.

You do not really know where a road will lead you until you take it. There are no guarantees. This is one of the most
important things you need to realize about life. Nobody said that choosing to do the right thing all the time would
always lead you to happiness. Loving someone with all your heart does not guarantee that it would be returned.
Gaining fame and fortune does not guarantee happiness. Accepting a good word from an influential superior to cut
your trip short up the career ladder is not always bad, especially if you are highly qualified and competent. There are
too many possible outcomes, which your really cannot control. The only thing you have power over is the decisions
that you will make, and how you would act and react to different situations.

Wrong decisions are always at hindsight.

Had you known that you were making a wrong decision, would you have gone along with it? Perhaps not, why
would you choose a certain path when you know it would get you lost? Why make a certain decision if you knew
from the very beginning that it is not the right one. It is only after you have made a decision and reflected on it that
you realize its soundness. If the consequences or outcomes are good for you, then you have decided correctly.
Otherwise, your decision was wrong.

Take the risk: Decide.

Since life offers no guarantee and you would never know that your decision would be wrong until you have made it,
then you might as well take the risk and decide. It is definitely better than keeping yourself in limbo. Although it is
true that one wrong turn could get you lost, it could also be that such a turn could be an opportunity for an
adventure, moreover open more roads. It is all a matter of perspective. You have the choice between being a lost
traveller or an accidental tourist of life. But take caution that you do not make decisions haphazardly. Taking risks is
not about being careless and stupid. Here are some pointers that could help you choose the best option in the face of
life's crossroads:

Get as many information as you can about your situation.

You cannot find the confidence to decide when you know so little about what you are faced with. Just like any news
reporter, ask the 5 W's: what, who, when, where, and why. What is the situation? Who are the people involved?
When did this happen? Where is this leading? Why are you in this situation? These are just some of the possible
questions to ask to know more about your situation. This is important. Oftentimes, the reason for indecision is the
lack of information about a situation.

Identify and create options.

What options do the situation give you? Sometimes the options are few, but sometimes they are numerous. But what
do you do when you think that the situation offers no options? This is the time that you create your own. Make your
creative mind work. From the most simplistic to the most complicated, entertain all ideas. Do not shoot anything
down when an idea comes to your head. Sometimes the most outrageous idea could prove to be the right one in the
end. You can ask a friend to help you identify options and even make more options if you encounter some difficulty,
but make sure that you make the decision yourself in the end.

Weigh the pros and cons of every option.

Assess each option by looking at the advantages and disadvantages it offers you. In this way, you get more insights
about the consequences of such an option.

Trust yourself and make that decision.

Now that you have assessed your options, it is now time to trust yourself. Remember that there are no guarantees
and wrong decisions are always at hindsight. So choose... decide... believe that you are choosing the best option at
this point in time.

Now that you have made a decision, be ready to face its consequences: good and bad. It may take you to a place of
promise or to a land of problems. But the important thing is that you have chosen to live your life instead of
remaining a bystander or a passive audience to your own life. Whether it is the right decision or not, only time can
tell. But do not regret it whatever the outcome. Instead, learn from it and remember that you always have the chance
to make better decisions in the future.

The Lady, or the Tiger?

Frank R. Stockton

In a distant land there lives a “semi-barbaric” king who is ruled equally by his hereditary barbarism and his civilized
ideals. He also possesses a fanciful nature, and his authority allows him to transform any given whim into reality.
The king delights in nothing more than putting an end to anything that he deems disruptive or unpleasant. As a
result, he has combined his fanciful nature and his ideals into a public arena, a concept that he borrowed from more
“refined” countries. 

The king’s arena is unique, however, in that it is not designed purely for exhibitions of valor or brutality. Instead, it
is an instrument of “poetic justice” by which accused criminals are tried without the biased input of a judge or jury.
When someone has committed a crime worthy of the king’s attention, the king issues a public notice regarding the
date and time of the accused’s trial. The people are invited to assemble at the arena as spectators to the judgement.

The trial begins when the accused enters the arena. However, rather than presenting evidence or appealing to the
public for mercy and understanding, the alleged criminal must instead make a choice. He is presented with two
identical doors to choose between; behind one door is a vicious tiger, ready to maul the accused as punishment for
his apparent guilt; behind the other door is a woman, to whom the prisoner is instantaneously married as a reward
for his apparent innocence. In the eyes of the king, this method of administering justice is completely fair, because it
removes human bias from the equation. Rather than having their fate decided by a judge, criminals are instead given
the ability to decide their own fate, as blind as that choice may be. 

The arena is a popular fixture among the king’s subjects, who are never sure whether they will be witnessing a
gruesome death or a dubiously desirable wedding. Furthermore, the method’s apparent fairness satisfies the public’s
sense of justice, as the accused is ultimately responsible for their own fate. 

The king has a daughter, whom he loves dearly. His daughter falls in love with a handsome young courtier, and she
loves the courtier with all the passion that her barbaric ancestry demands. When the king discovers the affair, he
takes decisive action and puts the courtier on trial in the arena. It is common knowledge that the courtier is guilty of
the crime that he is accused of, but the king refuses to allow this fact to derail the tribunal. In the king’s view, the
trial in the arena will solve the problem regardless of which door is chosen; either the courtier is mauled by a tiger
and killed, or he is married to another woman and therefore unable to continue courting the princess. 

The princess, upon hearing that her lover will be tried in the arena, sets out to discover which door will hold which
outcome. Using her power and influence within the court, she successfully obtains the information. However, she
also discovers the identity of the lady, should the courtier choose the correct door. The lady is a beautiful young
woman who the princess believes admires the young courtier. Furthermore, the princess suspects that the courtier
has, on occasion, admired the lady as well. The princess, who possesses all of the “savage blood” of her father, hates
the lady for daring to admire the princess’s own lover. 

When the day of the trial arrives, the young courtier looks to the princess and instantly perceives that she has
succeeded in learning what lies behind each door. She quickly motions to the door to the right, and the courtier
unflinchingly follows her direction. However, rather than providing a conclusion to the story, Stockton instead asks
readers to decide what came out of the chosen door. 

The princess’s motivations are outlined: her initial quest to uncover the secret of the doors was motivated by her
desire to spare her lover from the jaws of the tiger. The horrific vision of him being mauled by a beast haunts her
nightmares. However, after learning the identity of the lady, her dreams were equally haunted by visions of her lover
and the lady being happily wed. She questions whether it may be better for her lover to die instantly at the hands of
the tiger, so that he might wait for her in the afterlife. Ultimately, the princess knows that she has lost her lover, and
now she must decide to whom she will lose him: the lady, or the tiger?