By Rick Van Arnam
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
The Road Not Taken | By Robert Frost
I love this poem. I love the concept of taking a path that most don’t. There is something intuitive in recognizing that a road less traveled by may be richer in some way. Perhaps it is a view - or perspective gained – that would not otherwise be revealed if we simply followed the mainstream in thought or action. More likely the road less traveled becomes an experience that shapes a person in some way. As Robert Frost implies, the experience makes “all the difference” and I think he meant that in a positive way. What is not as intuitive is actually deciding to take the uncommon path – it may appear risky, full of uncertainty or require more work.
A lot of decisions that positively shape character in people require challenging choices. I don’t mean necessarily that the decision is challenging to make, but all that follows after the right decision has been made is challenging. Back in the fall of 1928, John Wooden enrolled at Purdue University where he, “hoped to be good enough to play basketball and smart enough to get my degree.” Athletic scholarships did not exist as they do today, but he was promised a job by the legendary coach ‘Piggie’ Lambert as a means to pay his way through school, a principle in which Coach Lambert believed. During Wooden’s sophomore year a local doctor offered to pay all of John’s college fees. As Wooden tells the story in his book, They Call Me Coach, Coach Lambert extended the offer to Wooden on behalf of the doctor and reminded him of his principle that working oneself through college would make one better appreciate the value of the education. The decision was Wooden’s alone and he declined the offer with full support of his coach. His choice surely made Wooden’s student-athlete-employee role more challenging and explains the lowest-left block in John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success. His famous pyramid is a visual strategy for success that he designed during the mid-to-late 1930’s and shared generously over the remaining sixty-plus years of his life. He defines this block, labeled INDUSTRIOUSNESS, by writing, “There is no substitute for hard work. Worthwhile things come from hard work and careful planning.” There is a reason it is the lower left block of the pyramid; it is the cornerstone. Wooden, like Frost in his musing, recognized that hard work and careful planning, like taking the path less traveled by, make all the difference.
Are there any cautions that come with the road less traveled? Maybe. I think it is wise to be aware of its side trails that are traveled even less. The farther you veer off course, even an uncommon course, the more alone you may find yourself. Without teammates of support that go by the names of Encouragement, Wisdom and Camaraderie, the going may shift from challenging to futile. Even less traveled paths could be dead ends with haunting names like Stubbornness Trail, Unforgiving Road or Prideful Street.
RVA
The Call Me Coach, By John Wooden with Jack Tobin, McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., Copyright 2004
