He stood at a crossroads on the outskirts of his village. Ahead of him was a fork in the path.
To most men going to the left was the safer, and so the obvious choice.
And that is the path that most men took.
The path to the left led to the known and comfortable.
It was easy to see from this vantage point where both paths led.
That left path was wellworn, wide and flat. The weather was calm and there were no obstacles in the way. One could easily see the final destination clearly in view.
But the deepest part of him, his innate instinct, was not fooled and told him this was a trap.
As it had since he was a boy, his inner voice was telling him to head in directions most others feared.
This always made him feel like an alien amongst others, and in reality he was.
He watched as all of his contemporaries race down the left path with smiles on their faces and trust and relief in their hearts.
The left path led to the place we are taught to strive for.
He saw the others as lambs eagerly welcoming their slaughter.
Thankfully, some men, even when being indoctrinated by parents and teachers their entire lives, see this as the profound lie that it is.
He was one of them.
The right path was barely discernible as so few had taken it. It was dark and crooked and in the distance he could see terrible storms filled with tornadoes and thunder and lightning.
Men were coming towards him from the right. They were beaten and broken, soaking wet, and their eyes glassy.
They all told him the same thing: “Don’t even think about it my friend. Follow us to the left. There is nothing good waiting for you that way. It is a death sentence.”
Then they all run down the left path as fast as they could, never looking back.
He watched wave after wave of these retreating weak men.
He looked to the right again. The main destination was nowhere to be seen.
He knew if he went down that path that he may never see the end goal. But he was the one in a million that for some reason had innate fear, aversion and revulsion to the left path and what it offered.
He took his first of a million steps on the right path.
The right path was strewn with the corpses of those that had failed and didn’t turn back in time. He met more and more beaten men traveling back down to the fork in the path.
They all gave him the same warning. “It’s a dead end.”
These men ultimately didn't have what it took. Most would never admit that and would blame everything but themselves for their failure.
There was a time they all stood at the fork and said: “I can do this! The right path is for me!”
No one and nothing can fully prepare you for the right path.
In order to stay on that path a man needs to have more than a feeling or surface desire.
Just by looking at both paths, the right one does not seem to give any lifelong security whereas the left path clearly offers it.
This is the great deception. It is the left path that leads to a life of slavery and desperation.
He once heard a wise man say that
desperation leads to self-compromise leads to enslavement
Eventually the right path dead ended into a sheer rock face that went straight up and extended into the clouds. He could not see the top edge.
At this point there were only two choices. Forward which meant climbing the rock face with no ropes, or a backwards retreat.
He realized now why so many men had turned back and retreated back to safety.
He craned his neck as straight up as he could muster and looked for a very long time at where the rock face disappeared into the clouds. That point was miles above him. The rock face was perfectly perpendicular to the ground, straight up. How was he going to climb it?
He sat down with his back against the rock face, and put his head between his knees and wept silent tears. He had put on a stoic face for most of this journey, but most men, who push themselves to the limits he had, break down emotionally at times. This is not a weakness but a sign you are giving your entire being to your goals. If it doesn’t bring you to tears, your heart isn’t truly in it.
He was facing the path now as he sat and looked where he had come from.
Like a seductress, the path leading back to the fork was suddenly straight, wide and was on a slight decline. Not a storm cloud in the sky!
This pristine path of retreat was being guided by the evil spirits that live within and without men. They want to sabotage the great aspirations in men and make them give up.
These evil spirits don’t want free thinking men who want to make their own way. They want men to be slaves.
They want to steer men towards the left path which leads to enslavement and outside control of their entire existence.
But he had another spirit in his heart. This was the enlightened spirit. The enlightened spirit, which is rare for a man to possess, was much more powerful than the evil one.
The enlightened spirit spoke softly in his head: “Stand up, turn around, face the wall, and never look back on the path upon which you have trodden. There is nothing for you back there.”
He responded, out loud, with tears still flowing: “But there is no way I can climb this rock face. I need a guarantee that at the top, I will finally reach my goal.”
The enlightened spirit spoke softly again:
“Although the weak and blind take the left path believing that offers a guarantee of a bright future, it does not.
There are no guarantees outside of yourself my son.
The only true and pure things that exist are your faith in yourself, your strength, determination and your future vision of yourself.
Those are your only guarantees. Never look outside yourself for any again.
Stand up, turn around, face the wall, and never look back on the path upon which you have trodden. There is nothing for you back there but a life of servitude. Ahead of you lies a life of independence. The kind of life a real man is supposed to lead.”
He dried his tears and did as the guiding voice demanded.
He reached up his right hand and found a crack in the rock just big enough to fit his fingers in, and he also found a spot for his foot to gain purchase, and then suddenly he was off the ground.
He climbed the rock face for years and eventually went through and out of the cloud cover. He could finally see the top edge of the rock face.
His ultimate goal was so close!
He hoisted himself on a flat part of this mountain and stood up for the first time in years.
He felt very proud.
He looked around and was sure he would see a beautiful palace, and a place to finally rest his head. He would get his just reward for all of the risks he had taken.
But there was nothing but another sheer rock face that went straight up and extended into the clouds. He could not see the top edge.
The enlightened spirit said: “You have done so much more than most men could. Don’t take this as a failure. You see, those that take the left path are made to believe they have come to the end of their journey, and in many ways they have, but this is an omen and a curse.
They have no other path to take to even higher achievements as men.
They live as children in adult bodies.
Every summit you reach, which seems to be high and in the clouds, will become the lowest of valleys and will lead to new paths and rock faces with new hard to reach summits that seem to be as high as the heavens over and over again.
If you are lucky, this process will repeat in both your personal and business lives until the day you die.
You are one of the few men that need this to feel fulfilled.”
He didn’t understand why he was driven down a path so many failed on.
But he thanked God for instilling that drive in the deepest parts of him.
He reached up his right hand and found a crack in the rock just big enough to fit his fingers in, and he also found a spot for his foot to gain purchase, and then suddenly he was off the ground….
To be repeated
and repeated
and repeated……
