An explanation of Rumi’s quote, “When you start to walk on the way, the way appears”
The regrets of not having walked down those roads will often outweigh the fears you inhabited of what worse could come along the journey.
Often do we find ourselves in situations when our awaited opportunity is just there at our doorsteps. But for some reason, we tend not to act upon them because we assume that we are unprepared or unsure about what to do next after this. In such cases, we think of these opportunities as if they were some strangers knocking on our door. It can be the dream job that you always aspired or the venture you wanted to start, or maybe your most cherished dream/goal. But the lack of familiarity and being overly concerned with how to entertain this “stranger” ended up in action until it departed.
It’s very commendable to see how the quote of Rumi was quite ahead of its time in exploring this aspect of us humans to back off from things we eagerly want, just because of our purported fear of failure or incapability. But the subtle point we seem to miss here is that unless we stick out our necks and introduce ourselves to those opportunities, they will remain as ‘strangers’ as they were before. The globe of uncertainties of what will come along the journey unfolds when we tap into those opportunities and advance through them. Whether you fail or succeed in those opportunities, the regrets of inexperience and doubt will reverberate more strongly than the pains of failure that will subside with time.
On a concluding note, we are better off taking the risk and experience what lies ahead of us, rather than thinking back of the time when a canvas of uncertainty and bleakness was holding us back from acting on the opportunity while we wait for another such ‘stranger’ to knock and pass by.
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