Notice that in the original Hebrew text of this verse, the word "seems" was added by the translators. You are not free to choose the "what" of your journey (which is a brute fact), but you are free to choose its "how."
Since this road represents the way of your life, you are ultimately responsible for how you choose to walk it.
You cannot get off this road, and no one can walk it for you.
So there is a way, or road, that you are walking, comprised of a (finite) series of choices you have made, are making, and will make, which are leading you somewhere. Even choices which appear to be self-loathing are often made with the hidden hope that we will find satisfaction in some way. Most of us instinctively want to live life to the fullest, and we make choices that we believe will satisfy our profound hunger for life. Such decisions are unavoidable, though many will choose to become victims of their own unreflective consciousness by choosing the path of "least resistance." People choose this path because they do not know "the end thereof" they walk… When we make decisions, consciously or not we are choosing what we believe will bring us nearer the goal or end or our journey.Īlong the way we will always encounter "forks in the road" – junctions where we must decide whether to turn to the left or the right, or to go backward in our journey. You simply cannot walk anywhere without having a "where" or destination in mind. If you are reading these words, you are presently on the way, and there is no escape from this journey you are on.
Everyone who is alive and conscious is "on the road," and every day presents us with choices about how we will walk down that road. THE HEBREW WORD derekh ( דֶּרֶךְ), often translated as "way," can refer to a physical road or pathway, but metaphorically it often refers to the journey, manner, or course of one's life. There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. Derech HaYashar - The Straight Way Right Path