Life at the Crossroads

By: Alex

Art by Alex  

There are three things I remember most vividly from the movie Castaway. One, Tom Hanks’ dramatic weight loss; two, the famous “WILSON!!!” scene, in which Tom Hanks professes his love for a friendly volleyball; and three, the ending that still has me thinking. Sorry for the spoiler, but this ending gives us no closure, as we see Tom Hanks return to his home after being rescued and left at a literal crossroads to decide where to move next with his life. He is essentially starting fresh—a new man with a new life ahead of him.

But what does he decide to do? We will never know, as the movie ends before we see him make his decision. So, what does this say about decisiveness? I want to know where Tom Hanks goes. I want to know if he made the right decision. I want some answers!

Of course, I’m getting fired up about this because the crossroads are not only reserved for men who return home after four years of being shipwrecked and now have to decide what to do with their lives after rejoining society. The crossroads are very real to us, too. As teens, we’re at an age where almost every moment in life puts us at a crossroads because there is still so much to figure out. Now, some crossroads are more important than others. Like the crossroads of post-grad life--- those are pretty important. It’s where we decide what we want to do with ‘the rest of our lives’ and ‘who we want to become.’ Lots of pressure, I know. But it’s unavoidable.

What I’m getting down to here is the idea we all fear--- the unknown. Like Tom Hanks, we will all eventually be left at the crossroads. Though our crossroads are a result of graduation and his were a result of being at sea for years, it’s the same deal. The crossroads represent several different options for us, each one being something uncertain because we never really know what lies at the end of the path until we venture down it.

So it becomes rather scary when we realize that we can’t sit at the crossroads forever—we have to choose where to go from there. We’re faced with so many questions… ‘what path do I choose?’ ‘What if I’m unhappy with the decision I make?’ ‘What do I do now??’ But here’s something to think about: what’s to stop us from turning back if we don’t like the path we choose?

Though I’m super scared of reaching the post-grad crossroads, I know that there’s a very slim chance that I’ll go down the wrong path when I get there, because there really is no wrong path to take. The beautiful thing about making choices is that we can try something that we think we like, realize we don’t like it, and then choose to move on. We can go down any path we want, as many times as we want.

I’m not saying this will be an easy feat. Decisions are big stuff reserved for the grown-up world that us teens don’t like to talk about. But we’ve got to start making them sometime. The movie ended before we saw it, but we know that Tom Hanks had to make some sort of decision toward his future. It’s the only way.

So when my time comes at the crossroads, I’ll boldly make a decision about where my life will lead. I may like it, and I may not. But I know I can always try another path if I can’t find happiness down the first. And, if all else fails, at least I’ll have a volleyball in the passenger’s seat to keep me company.