Concerning Hobbits

To take the road less traveled, that has made all the difference.  I have a feeling, however, that Robert didn’t intend for this idea to be applied to such extremes as it has been in my life.  I seem to go out of my way to find the road not only less traveled, but also filled with poisonous snakes, concealed pit traps, and man-eating sharks with lasers on their heads.  Sometimes I wonder how things would have turned out if I just stayed in the Shire and kept to the safer gentler paths.  Unfortunately life doesn’t do mulligans, so I can only plow forward, praying with each step that a divine power is leading me to a satisfactory destination.  A narrower destination than the alternative, I hope.

Back in high school, I took private tennis lessons and worked tirelessly to climb the ranks within the school team.  In my senior year, I was supposed to be captain of the team as well as play in the highest spot, that of first singles.  On our second day of practice early in that season, it began to rain and we ended early, and I decided to go watch my friends at volleyball practice in the gym.  After ten minutes, I knew, without question, that I wanted to play volleyball.  It was absolute foolishness, to throw away thousands of dollars of training, discard hundreds of hours of practice, and step down from the top leading position on the team to pursue this whim.  And yet, in my heart, I knew.  Without hesitation or question, I knew.  So I quit the team and played varsity volleyball that season, brushed up on my dusty volleyball skills and trained rigorously, and ended up as the starting middle blocker for our team.  I was happy.  And as with any good Hollywood movie, our undersized underdog team that barely made it into the playoffs ended up winning the championship.  I was certainly not the best player in our starting six-man roster, but I can say with confidence that they could not have won it all without my contribution.

Old habits die hard, and as you all already know, I quit medical school with just one year left until completion.  Absolute foolishness yet again, but I knew with the same unwavering conviction and certainty that medicine was not my path and that it was time to leave.  I am happy.  It would have been smart to graduate and get those delightful letters “M” and “D” behind my name, but one of my many flaws is I am not a man of subtleties.  I deal in absolutes, and it was absolutely time for me to leave.  It’s odd that I don’t enjoy Absolut Vodka as much as I should…

I got a job offer today.  A healthcare software company based in Wisconsin is willing to pay me a good amount of money to go there and be their dancing monkey.  After some research, however, the position that I once thought was perfect may in fact hide a darker more sinister side.  Nothing illegal or immoral, mind you, but simply a side that may ultimately not only be of little help to my future career and pursuits, but may in fact compromise my long-term goals.  Having gone nearly four months without a job, the easy decision would be to take this well paying offer and make the best of it.  However, I feel a familiar whimsical feeling rising from the pits of my stomach.  Do I dare entertain the whim yet again?  Maybe it’s just diarrhea?  I think in this case I need to arm myself with more detailed research and knowledge of the company and other possibilities elsewhere.  But if I end up in the same position I am in now after the proper due diligence, do I dare reject this offer of manna from the skies?

I hope I do not linger here too long to watch the woods fill with snow.  It’s easy to fall into a lull after experiencing an extended respite from a life of productivity, but my pride, ambitions, and dreams will keep me warm and see me through this dark winter.  There are so many miles to go before I sleep.  I pray that this snowy path I have chosen, along with future forks in the road and those respective paths, will lead me to the destination miles and miles away, beyond what my mortal eyes can currently see.

In closing, I would like to apologize to Mr. Frost for the blatant plagiarism and foolish misuse of his words.  Nothing like a little plagiarism to make your own words sound more profound!

Leonard Nimoy: Hello. I'm Leonard Nimoy. The following tale of alien encounters is true. And by true, I mean false. It's all lies. But they're entertaining lies. And in the end, isn't that the real truth? The answer is: No.