Life Lesson #206 ~ Choosing the Road Less Traveled
“Do what is right. Not what is easy.” ~ Unknown
Now as a little girl I was a spitfire. I’m sure this fact doesn’t surprise anyone really. I might could’ve been a quiet, go with the flow kind of girl but that wasn’t my fate. Not in a long shot. I had a wild imagination, deep as the ocean and wide as the sky itself. I’d wake up, tie my red hair back, strap on my red hair, don’t care attitude and engineer whatever I could get my hands on into a bow. I’d sneak in, grab one of my daddy’s green fatigue T-shirts and pull it over my head. Then I’d pull on tights and wrap a sash around my waist and toss on my felt, green tyrolean style hat on my head, sideways of course. Gotcha didn’t I? You were envisioning Maid Marian weren’t ya? Nope, not me, not this fiery, freckle faced bundle of energy. I loved her and all, let’s be clear on this but...in my 5 years old mind I was clearly born to play just one role, and that was Robin Hood. I dreamed of adventures in Sherwood Forest. And after visiting this wondrous, beautiful and mysterious place in real life, my imagination was alive, bursting with all kinds of possibilities. As a 4 year old I had seen Robin Hood's beloved forest with my own eyes. Located in Nottinghamshire, England these old royal hunting grounds are really rather spectacular. Being my mother's daughter and my father’s child, I was completely taken with the history, lore and beauty of each and very birch tree within this noted, celebrated and famed forest. Yes, I saw myself leaping, swinging from the tree above me, carefully kindling a fire with Little John and my merry men by my side. I wanted nothing more than to defend the helpless, uplift the downtrodden and free the prisoner. Even at 5 years old I understood the truth behind this unknown authors words. “I’m humble enough to know that I’m not better than anyone but wise enough to know that I’m different from the rest.” I saw the injustice around me, happening to those I loved and I knew one day if I stayed true to myself, unwavering in my faith and in God’s Word, I could be like Robin Hood, a rebel with a just cause. The words of Isaiah 43:2 have long inspired my heart. "When you go through the sea, I am with you. When you go through rivers, they will not sweep you away. When you walk through fire, you will not be burned, and the flames will not harm you." Now, I have never taken this to mean I won’t be touched or even scared by man’s cruelty. The truth is I have. Yet, my heart is full and my spirit free. I understood this as a child even when the nights felt long. I knew the road ahead of me was going to be tough, winding and at times difficult. And still I longed to become a Godly woman made by the very same fires Satan was vowing to scar me with. See, I saw Robin Hood through different eyes than most. While he was funny ,clever and carefree on the exterior in my childlike state I saw something deeper, bigger than his notorious skills for robbing the rich and giving to the poor inside. Yes, I saw in his flawed character, all of it... every last drop. Yet in his flaws, I was taken with his humility and ability to stand up for good in spite of the consequences, even to the cost of his own life. As a little girl, Robin Hood displayed confidence and boldness, and of course it was a bonus he was a redhead too. But silliness aside, Robin Hood showed me, in spite of what the day brought, “Keep your chin up; someday there will be happiness again.” Guess this is a good part of the reason I’m such an optimist, one of those glass if half full kind of girls.
Now why did the story of Robin Hood stick to me like glue? Well, there’s a reason and the story begins in the winter of 1977, in Frankfurt Germany. The reality is I was bullied early in life, too early honestly. I was different, and it was apparent early on I was not everyone's cup of tea. I knew what it was like to be unusual and quite frankly, divergent. I learned knee high to a grasshopper to stand alone and up for what I believed in. This is probably a fairly good reason I related to Robin Hood so fiercely. My story's beginning opens up somewhere around my fourth year. We were living in military quarters, on post. One afternoon my friend and I were playing when we suddenly found ourselves cornered down inside a basement like room attached at the end of our building. We ran down the stairs, and with no way out we were trapped, enclosed and surrounded above by four much older girls looking to feel big.There was no escaping, my friend and I were helpless as the stones began raining down on top of us. I can still see the fear in my friends face, feel the alarm building and taste the metallic smell of her blood in the air. And still the rocks kept coming on that dark, awful day in 1977. Seeing the situation, feeling scared myself I looked at my friend, made my way up the stairs,pushed past the bullies blocking our way and ran for help. Ultimately, my friend was taken to the hospital where she received a good many stitches to her head. Whatever happened to those girls, I have no idea.But i can tell you I made a life altering decision that day...I would never hide, run or be beat down again...ever! I knew then and there, as I went to bed that night listening to my mama sing, if I had to stand alone for what was right, I would. You see, that day so long ago, some 44 years ago, I learned one of the most valuable lessons of my entire life. An idea Has F. Hansen would remind me of later in my lifetime…”It takes nothing to join the crowd. It takes everything to stand alone.” Curdled up in a ball, huddling in the corner of that dark, cold basement with my friend, praying for help to come I found my own version of Robin Hood inside myself. After all, I’m a Southern girl, am I not? Even if I was living in a whole ‘nother country some 5, 307 miles from my soon to be home state of Texas. And being a southern girl I knew we blessed hearts but took names too. See, that day, that afternoon, under a dark, gray winter sky in Germany of 1977, at just 4 years old I was faced with doing what was right or looking out for myself. I chose the road far less traveled. As the winds blew, I saw those girls for who they were...bullies, small, overbearing, haughty and arrogant much like Prince John and the Sheriff of Nottingham. See, what the devil meant to harm me, strengthened me. Those smug girls, much the same as many along my path have mistakenly done, “They broke the wrong part of me. They broke my wings and forgot I had claws.” (unknown) You could say this was the beginning of my story, where it all began for me...where my real adventure started...where my comeback originated.
From that day on I knew I’d spend the rest of my life true to who God had not only made me but called me to be. I vowed then and there to stand for the meek. I’d be an encourager to the discouraged. True, because of this, many doors have closed for me, but God in His grace has opened more windows than I could dare count. My life, my path was decided long ago and chosen by God. He’s certainly closed doors, blocked paths and detoured me down roads I wanted no part of, but God is still God and I’m still His daughter, wild and all. I’ve accepted who I am, and who He’s called me to be. Yes, I still have strap on a red hair, don’t care attitude most days and I’m not afraid to own the fact I’m a rebel, outlaw, and awkwardly uncoordinated most of the time. But as clumsy and at times difficult as I may be, God’s grace covers, guides and inspires me daily. I don’t live by the majority rule, I live and breath with God as my Captain. All those years ago, He spoke to my tender, scared and little heart. In those moments, on that day, as each and every stone was cast over and upon my head, my Father gave me not only gumption but faith. Honestly I no longer fear death, Breast cancer has had a lot to do with that I suppose. Looking death in the eye has a way of handling that for you. Truthfully, I’m more afraid, scared even of dying with a heart full of lost opportunities. I would rather die standing up for what’s right, hard or not, rather than live comfortably in denial. As Robin Hood tells it, “Ah but remember faint hearts never won fair lady.” And that’s the real lesson here, is it not? See, bullies, big or small are much the same as Prince John and his followers. Look at the Sheriff here. He knows what’s right, instead he ignores the truth for the easy way out. He attempts a go at the right thing, but falls into place a little too easily, doesn’t he? Caught singing a verse describing Prince John, He back pedals. The sad thing is he’s aware of the truth in his own words, “He throws an angry tantrum if he cannot have his way. And then he calls for Mum while he suckin’his thumb. You see, he doesn’t want to play.” The Sheriff explains, “But sir, it's a big hit. The whole village is singing it. “ Prince John is nowhere near amused as he proclaims, “Oh they are, are they? Well, they’ll be singing a different tune.” And sadly as bullies usually do, Prince John lacks something we call a conscience. His greed, selfishness, possessiveness, pushy, devious and spoiled rotten jealousy has gotten the best of him, and his real purpose has flown the coop.
It is not lost on me some four decades later, following this rather ominous event in my life, that things could have gone awry that day.. Fear herself was calling, wrong was attempting to win my heart that afternoon. But courage found me instead and has held my heart and soul tighter each day. Sure, I could have chosen the road more traveled. I could have taken up with the crowd that day to save my own skin. I could have conformed, stood there in silence, kept my mouth shut in spite of everything I knew was right just like the good old Sheriff of Nottingham. But I didn’t. Jesus Christ was then as He is now...King of all of me. I knew His love to be true, unconditional and because of this even as fear gripped me, His grace guided me. Who knows what was really going on that day, at home or school with those girls. I have long given up trying to understand their reasoning or purpose. Doesn't really matter at this point who was the ring leader or the follower. The reality is I’ll never know and that’s OK. Why? Because I know this to be true, “The world suffers a lot. Not because of the violence of bad people, but because of the silence of good people.” (unknown) And that is why I stood up, pushing past the giants, with stones in their hands, standing on me that day. I could not nor will I ever stand silently by when wrong is scheming to overthrow good. The great Dr. Martin Luther King once said, “Never, never be afraid to do what’s right, especially if the well- being of a person or an animal is at stake. Society's punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.” That cold winters day I learned this life lesson and I never forgot it. As that cold, gray wintry day unfolded the MP’s came, as did the ambulance and our parents. My friend was never quite the same, but neither was I. She was stitched up and sent home to recover. As I said before I don’t remember what happened to those girls after that fateful day, but the truth of the matter is no one walked away unscathed, unchanged...it all came down to which road we chose. My parents walked me home, just a few steps away honestly from the scene of the crime. They were rightly upset, as most would be. I fell asleep that night in my parents bed, snuggled between them...safe. And if I listen closely enough my memories can still hear my mama singing, “Robin Hood and Little John runnin’ through the forest jumpin’ fences, dodgin’ trees and trying to get away comtemplatin’ nothin’ but escapin’ and finally makin’ it Oo-de lally, golly what a day Oo-de-lally, golly what a day.” (Roger Miller, Robin Hood Soundtrack)
“Here’s what I think integrity is: It's choosing courage over comfort. Choosing what’s right over what’s fun, fast or easy. And practicing your values.” ~ Brene Brown
~ Merida Grace
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