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 Road Less Traveled.

Taking the Road Less Traveled 

5 minute Read
By Bethany Rees

The “Road Less Traveled” Definition: Resisting the pressure to give into societal trends or expectations, thus freeing yourself from the need to conform to others.

 Awe, junior high and high school. The most turbulent times of peer pressure. 

The constant fear of not fitting in or even worse, standing out. 

Oh, the stress of trying to decide who we are and what group we fit in…because you know… we always want to fit into some sort of group. 

There’s always “safety” within the pack. 

Everyone has a natural desire to fit in. To belong to the group. To go with the flow. 

And because of this natural desire we often take the road that is wide and filled with many others. Heck, we often just take the bandwagon because it's easy! 

According to The School of Thought’s website, yourlogicalfallacyis.com, the bandwagon fallacy appeals to “popularity or the fact that many people do something as an attempted form of validation.” And the bandwagon works so well because it appeals to a person’s inner desire to join the crowd…it validates us because we feel like we belong to the group. 

But the acceptance of the bandwagon, or following the crowd so we fit in or don’t stand out, ultimately leads to us developing a herd mentality (where everyone in the group begins to think and behave in same ways to conform with others). 

In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus warns us about the road that is widely accepted by others and how it can often lead to our own destruction.

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

We blindly follow the crowd and are unwilling to take a road less traveled. 

Because a road less traveled means we would have to stand out and sometimes stand alone. 

But here’s the truth as I know it: 

1. Keeping up with the pressures and expectations of society is exhausting. 
2. Standing out or standing alone can be a scary thought. 

 You can read more about my journey in finding freedom and authenticity here. 

Even Brene Brown has something to say about it. In her book Braving the Wilderness, she parallels the concept of the road less traveled through the concept of embracing the wilderness. She says: 

"Belonging so fully to yourself that you’re willing to stand alone is a wilderness - an untamed, unpredictable place of solitude and searching. It is a place as dangerous as it is breathtaking, a place as sought after as it is feared. The wilderness can often feel unholy because we can’t control it, or what people think about our choice of whether to venture into that vastness or not. But it turns out to be the place of true belonging, and it’s the bravest and most sacred place you will ever stand…[but]...We can’t expect to take a well-worn path through these badlands.”

But here’s the good news, we don’t have to keep choosing to take the wide road or stay on the bandwagon, hamster wheel, or in the rat race. You can get off at the next exit! 

So let’s be encouraged to find freedom! Let’s get off the bandwagon, leave the herd mentality, and be willing to stand out and stand alone away from the group. 

To help you find the courage to stand out and stand alone, look at other role models that took the road less traveled: 

Jesus reminds us, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” John 15:18-19

Paul reminds us, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2

John reminds us  “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.  And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” 1 John 2:15-17

Jesus encouraged, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Do not fear taking the road less traveled. Your peers, your family, social media, society, and the world did not create you, nor do they define you. 

You were created by God, and He created you for such a time as this. He has given you gifts that are different from others. The stronger your identity in Christ, the more brave you will be in taking the road less traveled.

Now get off whatever bandwagon you’re on! Embrace meeting God and finding freedom on the road less traveled. 

Know Better. Do Better. Live Better. Don’t Fear the Road Less Traveled!

Rocks before Sand!

Scripture: 

13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy[a] that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few."

~ Matthew 7:13-14

Theme Song:  

Road Less traveled Lyrics - Lauren Alaina

References Used:

• The School of Thought. Bandwagon Logical Fallacy. https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/bandwagon 
• Brown, Brene. (2017). Braving the Wilderness. New York: Random House. 
• The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.