There is a path and a path of least resistance.  The easy path is safe but will limit what you can do or achieve in your lifetime. The other path is risky, it is fraught with peril but also potential.

Which are you more likely to take and why?

Path of least resistance.  I'm inherently lazy and like to float.

Not pretty, but true.

Long route. Aka the Path. Jupiter rules my chart -- I prefer to call it "taking the scenic route", ha ha 

I don't know. I feel like my life is nothing but an up-hill battle. But maybe it's because I make it that way by being lazy and liking to float? :P

the non-easy path. 

because I have cap rising? 

sometimes I just want to KNOW everything, every step of a process. live it to learn it. just having someone tell me "do it this way"...I can't. I have Pluto in the 10th and can be very suspicious of people who try to convince me something is easy.

I used to do the harder path but really don't feel I got anywhere.. now I see the path of least resistance as much more potent and full of potential.. the potential to have a well rounded life.

I prefer ease, goodness, sweetness, and candy. Had enough of the tough stuff.

Libra answer. Both sometimes. I have worked way more than most people by a mile. I have also taken more risks than most would consider. At this point, I mostly take the path of least resistence. I call it conservation of energy. I would rather make one solid step forward than do the three steps forward two steps backwards dance.     

Maybe, though, it is my mars (with jupiter and nodes sun and mc)?

I agree with Simone Weil when she wrote that "...for the absence of risk weakens courage to the point of leaving the soul...." 

Jilly, I agree with that quote:) Mars in Aries in a grand trine with Saturn and Neptune, I just don't know how to be anything but. There are some risks I won't take: getting in a car without a seat belt, for one.

risk != stupidity 

Personally, I like the challenge but what was interesting is when I googled looking for a graphic, "the path of least resistance" is glorified. 

So of course I have to come in here with my Libra and say, fuck that for balance.  But seriously there is something to be said for striving and perseverance and such. For example, this blog would not exist had I taken the path of least resistance.

Path of least resistance will leave me lazy, worthless, fat, and stupid if I let it.  I can't let it.  I cannot for a moment think that is an option.

What I'm learning, though, is sometimes it's OK to sit on a mossy rock for a minute and catch my breath.  And sometimes it's OK to let a friend boost me up over a rock I can't reach alone.

Oh, I have some Saturn.  *chuckle*

I'm being forced to learn that Shannon. It's been surprisingly difficult.

It's my habit to take the hardest path to something, always.  I'm learning to pick my battles, which is also a good lesson.  Saturn in Libra = balance?  I think so.

I've tried my best to stick to the past of least resistance, but *sigh*, Life has always had other plans for me. Being innately lazy, I choose the lazy path and then get shoved back into taking the path thats the hardest of them all. *I have no idea how*

I usually 'think' I'm taking the path of least resistance, but I've got a horrid sense of direction, and by the time I figure things out, I'm already invested, and I'm certainly not ever going to admit I'm wrong (Aries), and I'm certainly not going to turn myself around and start over!  I guess I should invest in one of those GPS's...

But can't you climb the highest mountain AND take the smartest route up it, which would be the one that presented the fewest obstacles or the least resistance? Isn't least resistance good business sense? Would a (successful) CEO say, let's do this the hardest way possible?

Signed, Shiny Devil's Advocate Chicken  

( just read that thread & ROFLMAO!   )

Paths? There are paths?? Sheesh. All this time I thought it was a scavenger hunt.

*Insert loopy dotted lines going all over the damn place, like from Family Circus comic strips.*

Path of Least Resistance...?

Physics...Good; Technical writing and Design flow schema...Good; Human Being Stuff...Not So Good.

(Shortest. Post. Ever. <--not even close to the path of least resistance... :D )

I usually LOOK for the Easy path, and end up stumbling along the Difficult one until I get my self fucked-up enough to start looking around for that goddamn elusive Easy one again. 

Pity that the paths aren't sign-posted......

 N.Node = Hard/smart work, patience and the steady rise to achievement.

i have a long history of making myself do things the hard way.  (i've got saturn)   i see it as both a blessing and a curse.   i've grown in ways i couldn't have imagined.   but it can also be very hard.

i just feel like if i take the easy path, it won't get me where i want to go.  

that said... if i find myself in a situation where i'm just uselessly banging my head against a wall.  i will try to find another way. 

It takes wisdom to know what the right path looks like.  And we're not a culture that values wisdom.  

For folks looking to choose the 'right path' - easy or hard - feedback is vital.  It helps to have people who are not only wise but who can also be honest.  

swooner that is that funniest post I've read all year, HAHAHAHHAHHAHH

I'm reminded of the Joseph Campbell quote Satori uses in her post on Archetypes:

“It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. Where you stumble, there lies your treasure.”

Honestly, I wouldn't mind a little less resistance but I accepted the terms of the apprenticeship when I consciously signed on. I think Joe's onto something.

The image is wonderful and reminds me of a dream I had a few months ago, climbing the sheer face of a cliff, just that far away, almost there, one more reach.  
 

I always took this to mean don't make things unnecessarily hard: let go of the extra useless baggage you're toting around. Not that you should try to take shortcuts. 

@chrispito

It can be crazy making but I just found a rechargeable battery, a highlighter pen and a spork.

On with the search!

"I always took this to mean don't make things unnecessarily hard: let go of the extra useless baggage you're toting around. Not that you should try to take shortcuts. "

It is interesting the meaning has changed over the years?  When I googled, I was surprised to see the phrase glorified.  Later I spoke with satori about another theory I am working on and she said in her day, "the path of least resistance" was to be avoided at all costs.

I have never made a judgment on it but am working on that now.

Agree with Marjita, that's my understanding too. It's not the path of NO resistance, it's the path of LEAST resistance. Which can still be very hard. Depends on what you are trying to do really. Do you want to build muscle, for which you need a lot of resistance, or do you need to get somewhere in particular, for which you need the path of least resistance, so you can get there and do what it is you are supposed to be doing.

Hard is much easier.

Heads: The hard way

Tails: Take it easy

Flip

I have actually made several significant life decisions in this manner.  Crazy, yes but sometimes a libra stellium can't move on her own. 

I think there is a fine line between pleasure and pain. For me at least...I notice that sometimes it stings a little before you feel or see positive results...

 What can I say, I guess I like it Rough. hehe there goes my Jupiter in Scorpio ;)

"Motherfucker sits in the jungle, something comes along and eats him. That's the path of least resistance for you."

- my husband

haha!

I like challenges, I always have. I also like to do things the "right" way, sometimes too much so.

I feel relieved by the other libra answers. Because here's another one:

 I find that the path of least resistance often involves great struggle - for me, at least. I get set up, get paid, get job security, but to do something EXCRUTIATINGLY DIFFICULT that no one else can do. Perhaps others have been in this scenario? 

The thing is, I think the path of least resistance is the fast track to our highest selves. The signs are all pointing that way, so how can you not go? But just because there's the least resistance in one respect doesn't mean we won't encounter the real challenge once we're enmeshed fully in that choice, farther on that path that we chose. There is no such thing as a free lunch, or a resistant free path, or a golden ticket, or an easy ride. Somehow, we're always thrown into the place that's risky and fought with potential.

At least, I think that's what happens to real heroes. ;)

personally I try to take the path of least resistance but that doesnt neccesarily mean less work or courage just more effective in my book. I follow the lead of nature herself. doesnt waste energy on anything, but when needed will use as much energy as required