“In the midway of this mortal life, I found me in a gloomy wood” from Dante’s “Inferno,” first printed in the 1400’s, speaks to an experience still shared by many today. What do you do when you find yourself stuck in life? Neither at the beginning nor at the end. When all roads lead to seemingly endless possibilities, victories and pitfalls, it’s impossible to properly assess what is the best decision to make.
Here, in this metaphorical “gloomy wood,” is where plenty of us will get stuck eventually and we won’t even know it until we wake up one day and feel that something is off. Gloomy is the word for it, right? Well, the solution to this problem is so simple; you might just laugh out of relief at it.
When you don’t know what to do, do anything. By taking any action out of the list of potential decisions, you have already made the right decision. Even if you set yourself back, you still have gained the wisdom not to make the same mistake again. So, if you’ve been paying attention, you’re really always “winning” because you never come out of any life experience without having been, at least, a little bit changed.
So, yes. You’re going to make silly mistakes, and sometimes, you’ll win big, but you will only do that by living life. At the end of the day, isn’t that what it’s all about? Even our friend, Dante, went to Heaven and Hell after finding himself in the “gloomy wood.” So, when you find yourself there again or if you are there right now, remember, the correct path is any path.
