I had this little metaphoric epiphany this morning. It might be long and rambling by the time I'm done typing, but so what? It hit me hard and if even one of my redpill brothers also finds meaning in it, then it's worth it.

It's very cold in Akron this morning but the sun was shining nonetheless and so when I awoke, I decided it was a good day for a little hike at a local state park. I know the rough layout of this place, but I've never really hit the trails here before. So I could tell you that if you, say, walk north from parking lot X, you should end up near beach Y or creek Z -- that is to say, although I have no specific knowledge of any of the trails in this park, I am familiar with the lay of the land and I have a good idea where the trails should take me.

So this morning I'm hiking, my mind is wandering, I'm listening to the sounds of nature and just being present in the moment, enjoying the shit out of my existence. About an hour in, I start to realize something doesn't seem right. By now, I should have reached the marina, and at the very least I should be out of the heavy woods, on a path near the the lake, which should be off to my right. Yet the lake was nowhere in sight. Was I on the wrong trail? Did I miss a turn or take a wrong fork somewhere?

First, I decided not to jump the gun, and give the path I was on a few more minutes--maybe I was on the right trail after all, and soon I'd turn a corner and the lake would be there where I expected. A few minutes later, though, still no lake, just deeper, thicker woods.

So now I've got a real choice on my hands.

Do I give up altogether, turn around and retrace my steps back to the car, and call it a day? Nah, that's completely lame and unadventurous. In such a comparatively small park as this, with the whole day in front of me, only a pussy would do that.

Maybe I should continue along what I'm now quite certain is the wrong path, and just kind of hope for the best? Even though it's probably not going to take me where I wanted to go, and I might have to hitch back to my car, or god knows what else? A fair option, sure, and it does present the small chance to discover something new...but it's still a compromise. There may indeed be something down this wrong trail, but truth is, probably not. It's most likely a dead end and besides that, I came here to hike to the lake. That's my destination, that's where I want to go.

Which leaves me with my third option, the one I chose. I know I'm on the wong path, yet I know the boundaries of this park too. I can surmise that if I go off the trail, kick through the heavy woods and brush or maybe slog through some mud or a stream, eventually I should find the path I meant to be on all along. Yeah, I could end up dirty, get some cuts, wrassle a bear, fall in a hole, whatever--but probably not, and besides, that's just the price I'm going to have to pay to get back where I should be.

After 20 or 30 minutes pushing through the brush and forest, I emerged onto the path along the lake, and it was beautiful. There weren't many brambles, no quicksand pits, no bears or rabid deer, just solitude.

The metaphor of course is obvious. If you're in this sub it's bc you spent most of your life on the blue pill path and you have realized that it's not leading you where you thought it would. You want to be on the red pill path but you may be scared or feel like you can't go back far enough to catch that fork in the road that you missed somewhere along the way. But you don't have to double back. You can cut through the forest to get there. It may not be quite as easy as walking on someone else's well-established trail, but the pain you will experience during your time off-road is probably going to be far smaller that what you imagine. The only way to fail is to hesitate. Remember, fortune favors the bold.

Have a great morning, Gentlemen.