How often must we bear the challenges of life? The endless roller coaster between happiness and sorrow, the constant ups and downs of daily strife and always the question remains ...... why me?

Life is not an easy road for most. It twists and turns with many forks in the road. However, most of the time, we are given a choice. Do we turn to the right or to the left? Do we take the straight road or the winding road? Do we take the easy path or the difficult one?

Decisions are not easy for those struggling for direction and sometimes the many choices can become overwhelming. While standing at a crossroad in life, the urge is to take the most comfortable path; the road with the least resistance; the shortest or most travelled route.

And yet, if we've been down that comfortable road before, have gleaned its lessons in life and learnt from our experiences, why do we want to walk down the familiar path again? Won’t we be seeing the same scenery? Won’t we be seeking the same outcome?  Or does our destiny lie in another direction?

The fear of walking down the road less travelled is tangible and all too real. The less travelled road manifests itself in many ways and tends to cloud the issues that might otherwise be clear. It is in these times of confusion that we must seek peace and solitude; time to contemplate our life, our experiences and our past choices; time to look back and reflect on what we have learnt without fear or confusion. It is only when we take the hardly used path that we will gain new insight and see things from a different perspective.

Only we know our own personal thoughts; our unique past and personal history; the experiences that brought us to the crossroads we now face. We can always learn a small degree from others’ experiences and yet no one person can walk in our shoes. Others know not of the trials and tribulations that we faced in our private moments. Others can give us guidance and advice but only we know what we really want and what truly matters to us.

Each of us is an individual; we are unique and personal. And that is why while standing at a crossroad, only we can formulate the decision for ourselves; the true direction that we should take. The choices that we must eventually deliberate need to be based on clarity and wisdom, for it is only through personal reflection that we can choose our destiny; our next adventure and the future we will embrace.

School does not teach us how to make choices in life, but it is a skill that can be learnt and once mastered, can help us live a life of our dreams. Making choices can be challenging and demanding and sometimes you feel like you'd just like to sit back and let someone else tell you what to do. But the ability to make a choice is a gift and when you practise it regularly and see the ease with which your life begins to fall into place, you'll welcome it.