In life there are so many roads to choose from. So many paths that can and will lead to so many different outcomes. And while I’m not a Rhodes scholar, I do feel like I am a “Roads” Scholar, so over the next few blog posts, I’d like to share what I’ve learned from six specific roads I’ve taken: the Low Road, the High Road, the Long Road, the Road Less Traveled, the Fork in the Road, and the Yellow Brick Road. 

This week’s lesson learned shares some outcomes from taking the FORK in the Road.

Taking the Fork in the Road

3 minute Read
By Bethany Rees

The “Fork in the Road” Definition: Metaphor for when you come to a moment in which you have to decide between two options. 

We all love having choices. It makes us feel as though we are the captains of our own lives. 

But have you noticed lately, that we have what seems like too many options to choose from. 

When I was a kid we had four channels to choose from: ABC, CBS, NBC, and PBS (locally known as AETN). However, watching TV now consists of being able to stream thousands of channels, shows, and movies. 

Our overwhelm of choices is also present at the grocery store. So many options to choose from. 

Options are great, but they can really cause us to have analysis paralysis. So much so that we can become almost too scared to make the wrong choice. Thus we end up even choosing inaction.  

My husband Jason has so many one liners that he uses and one of them is to always be “bias to action.”  

I guess you could say that Jason aligns with the philosophy of Famous Yankee baseball legend Yogi Berra, who is quoted as saying, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” 

A fork in the road is a good thing, right? I mean it shows that you have options and the freedom to choose. 

But just like the cereal aisle in our grocery stores, we can become frozen in trying to decide what to choose. 

• Do we take the new job offer or stay where we are because we’re comfortable and secure?  
• Do we make an offer on this house or that house? 
• When my kid misbehaves, do I choose the gentle parenting route, or the authoritarian route? 

All those options can really stress us out, and make us want to have a drink…but then we have to decide whether or not we want a wine, a beer, or a cocktail. AHHHHHH!

When I experienced my major fork in the road in deciding whether or not to leave my job as Associate Principal and my career in education for entrepreneurship, I literally made myself sick over the choice. 

I felt guilty for leaving my role as an educator because I knew I could serve so many students and teachers. But I also really felt called to step out into something completely new and challenging. 

At the end of the mental turmoil, here’s the conclusion I came to: It honestly didn’t matter what I chose between two good options. 

God is still God, and His plans are still going to be accomplished...

...no matter what podunk little ol’ me chose to do with my career. 

Whether I stayed or left education, I would still be able to join Him in His will. Because His ways are higher than my ways and His thoughts are higher than my thoughts. 

Talk about a great relief from the stress and analysis paralysis I was experiencing because of fear that I would make the wrong decision. 

While I don’t know what decisions you’re facing in your life, be encouraged that God will accomplish His will for your life no matter which road you take. 

So I guess in the end, Yogi Berra was right…”When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” 

Know Better. Do Better. Live Better. Take the Fork in the Road.

Rocks before Sand!

Scripture: 

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,[a] for those who are called according to his purpose.”

~ Romans 8:28

Theme Song: 

The Clash - Do I Stay or Do I Go 

References Used:

• Yogi Bera “Yogi-isms.” https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/13722209/top-10-yogi-isms  

• The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.