I've written about bridges...metaphorically, not literal bridges...and how things and people serve as such in our lives. They help us get from one place to the next. There are strong ones, fragile ones, short ones and long ones. Generally, we don't realize they are bridges until after we've crossed them. When we look back, we can sometimes clearly see them. Other times, not so much. Still, they exist.

Today, I'm writing about another metaphor...the crossroads. You've been there, right? Maybe more than once? Unlike bridges, crossroads are much easier to immediately recognize. Robert Frost talked about a sort of crossroad (actually, a fork in the road, but work with me here) when he famously wrote, "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood" in his poem "The Road Not Taken." The fact that I can remember that poem proves that it is great because I never liked poetry. But I digress.

Life is all about choices. It doesn't matter if you're at an emotional, physical or professional crossroad, the rest of your life can be defined by which road you choose to take. I suppose you can also look at it as your life can be defined by which road you DON'T choose too. Either way, we all stand at a crossroads eventually.

Now you can fret over the road not taken or you can embrace the one you took. Either way, it winds up being about perspective. As I said, life is about choices. While we can't always choose how we feel, we can choose how we react.

But what if you find yourself on a road you wish you hadn't taken? Is that it? You're just stuck? No, it's never too late to turn around and walk the other way. You may not get to choose the road you originally passed on, but you can always find another path.

Okay, how about if you just can't decide which road to take? Ahh, yes...indecision. Here's my favorite quote about indecision: "When you find yourself stuck in indecision, the scarier choice is not actually jumping over that cliff into the unknown. It's more terrifying to stay in a place you already know is not where you want to be."

One of the many things I loved about coaching baseball is all of the quick decisions that I had to make. If you're not a fan of baseball, you may not see what I mean here. I called every pitch my pitcher threw. I coached third base and had to decide strategy immediately. I had to decide to send the runner or to hold him up. Sometimes I was wrong. Most of the time though, I was right. However, if I had just sat there and made no decision...well, that's a decision in and of itself, isn't it? Yes, and that's a decision that would have cost my team every single time.

Now, decisions made while coaching a baseball game aren't really some of life's most important decisions. Well, I suppose if a coach makes too many bad game decisions, his employer will eventually stop allowing him to make decisions on the baseball field. But, you know what I mean. Baseball, or any sport, isn't life or death.

You also have to know what you want. That way, when you come to the crossroads, you can choose with conviction. Remember this?

"One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Chesire cat in a tree.
"Which road do I take?" she asked.
"Where do you want to go?" was his response.
"I don't know." Alice answered.
"Then," said the cat, "it doesn't matter."

You've got to know your direction. You've got to know what you want. You've got to know where you want to be. You have to know who you are NOW...not who you've been. When you come to the crossroad...and we all will...you must be ready to choose.

Ferris Bueller was right when he said, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." Life moves fast indeed. But if you spend too much time looking around, it will pass you by.

Know what you want and go get it. If you fail, keep your head up because another crossroad is coming.

Choose wisely. Choose powerfully. Know yourself.