On rare occasions we are blessed with a day that shows us the many paths we chose not to take
The ticket reel plays before our eyes
And we must bare to see it no matter how hard not to we try

The turn left signs blink before us in neon green and bright pink
wondering why you didn't choose them

The billboards fly by of those you literally left behind and chose not to bring with you
the ones that didn't know you at all but tempted you just the same

The literal past stays stagnant, exactly as it was
as you have the luxury of driving through
seeing all that you chose to leave in the past

A part of you, never changing, but behind you in the rear view, broken by the glass
we choose not to look back.

The field glimmers with that choice you chose not to make,
the places you walked away from
when everything was at stake

The buildings you walked out of and never once looked back,
stay standing in real life even though you thought for sure you left them in your past.

They still exist in the present, those lives and choices, and people, and passions and livelihoods you didn't choose.
They exist in the present and it's hard to fathom.
Those choices you left behind still existing with abandon.

They exist in the present almost to remind you once more
How far you've come and how much you've changed
How the past has been hard but your heart has stayed the same

How the signs have blared loudly and brightly at times,
and you may have veered right or left along the lines,
But you found your way back to the path that was yours,
squiggly and turning and jagged some more

You came back to that path that is uniquely your own
You made it through the temptations, the lessons, the storms
You survived the chaos and the mess you sometimes created
You returned to the path you know you needed

You stayed true to yourself and your soul within
Followed your heart and your mind on the paths you were given

You emerged once more in the other side
Stricken and strong and completely alive.