The High Road- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

In this life, there are so many potential paths to take, but I realize that there comes a point when the avenues are fewer and the places to run disappear.  Then we must pick only one direction and then we must stay our course or stand still.   We could allow ourselves to fall behind.  In which case we might as well lay down and die.
I remember a time when my life, like a circular intersection, the kind you find all over the place in Washington D.C.,  held many roads to choose from.  All those paths were easily accessible, all leading somewhere different.  Then there came a time when there was just the fork in the road.  There was the easy lane or the higher plain.   The simplest way was straight and direct, flat, barren, with no surprises.  I'd walk with someone there, but not beside them, only in relative proximity.  There would never be anyone else to encounter and my travel companion was not excited about the journey.  It would be a lonely road, but I knew where it lead and I could manage it.  The tolls were paid in advance, the road would be smooth in most regard as long as I kept my head low, my pace steady, walked on the straight and narrow.

The high road is sometimes a lonely place, often a winding way, riddled with potholes and fallen trees, dark stretches where you can't see what's coming, but it's never dull, always worth traveling.  There have been people on my path who make the journey exciting and others who take my hand as I walk, some who push me up a hill, others who need to be carried and this has made me feel useful on my venture.  Sometimes I run.  Sometimes I fall.  Sometimes I roll down the hill, other places I stand to look back at where I've come from, but I can no longer see the beginning of this road.  The fork has vanished and there is no going in reverse.  The high road is a hard road to walk at times, but it's never disappointing.  It leads somewhere I've never been and it's all I can do to stop myself from excitedly asking, "Are we there yet?"  I realize this road may have no end or perhaps there will come another fork, a crossing, maybe even another crazy wheel with spokes of paths to select from.   I don't know.  I don't have a map and like a man, I won't ask for directions.   What I will ask is for you to walk beside me.  I promise you, it'll be an interesting journey.