Nature is a peculiar thing. In the forest when something is happening, all the animals, in the air and on the ground, forget their natural aversions to each other. When you see them all fleeing whatever is coming, you can tell from whence trouble comes because all the wildlife is headed the opposite way. That has always fascinated me. It’s as though they have their own emergency alert system. They all hear it and respond the same way, as though they have received instructions. They know exactly what to do and where to go. There is an order to it all. And they don’t trample each other in panic.

      When is it right to follow the masses? When is it not? How do you know whether you are being brave or just being foolish or reckless when you decide to deviate off the well- travelled road?

     When you step outside the box, swim against the tide, do the unthinkable or the unimaginable, do you even have time to question whether it is foolish or brave? After all, to everyone watching, everything you do is foolish and is destined for failure when you stop doing it their way.

    Still, I wonder when is it right to deviate from the familiar, treaded path. Just because everyone is going the same way, it doesn’t mean it’s the right way. Sometimes the “shepherds” get it wrong. But then, sometimes they get it right.

       I suppose what is important is why deviate. Without a purpose or a vision, I am just breaking the rules, and in the end what is accomplished? What have I proven? That no one tells me what to do? That I am bold enough to do whatever I want?

    My point is if you are going to go the other way, make it count; make it mean something, and like wildlife in the time of trouble, let everything in you agree–your heart, your mind, your soul, and your spirit–because there will be days you will doubt, become weary and afraid. Believing in what you are fighting for, in what you are standing for will get you through the dark, uncertain times.