The Path

I was running on a local trail recently when I decided to deviate from my normal route opting instead for a different path around a lake. In doing so, I couldn’t help but wonder about the impact of my change in course and whether it would be for the better or worse. For example, would I be more or less likely to come face to face with a black bear?

This got me reflecting, in the figurative sense, on the paths we take in our lives.                                                                                                             Have you ever looked back and wondered what life would be like if you had taken a different route or made a different decision when faced with a monumental choice?

In The Killer Trail, it becomes apparent that both Chris Ryder and Ray Owens come from difficult childhood backgrounds, which have shaped their lives. Yet they have taken vastly different paths as adults. Ray would describe Chris as a ‘bleeding heart’ social worker with his attempts to help people, while Chris would be quick to accuse Ray as being the one causing the ‘bleeding’ and sorrow in other people’s lives.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           What accounts for the different directions their lives have taken?

Does fate play a role in our lives?                                                                                                                                                                                                     Are Chris and Ray merely victims of fate, passively drifting to wherever life takes them? Or, do they have control over their destiny and the ability to set their own course in life? Related to this are questions about responsibility. Ray takes no responsibility for his actions and lives by no moral code. He simply does what he wants, when he wants, with no regard for anyone else. Chris, on the other hand, wants to do the right thing, but finds himself struggling in terms of determining exactly what the ‘right’ thing is.

Can people change? Well, in a fictional story like The Killer Trail, I can determine the answer to that question. But in real life, I wouldn’t pretend to have the answers to these questions. If I did hold the answers, I would probably be sending this post from my private island in the Pacific!

If only I had taken that path…