Doors

Doors often represent opportunity. Inventor of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell famously said, "When one door closes, another opens." We've all heard this. What we don't hear as often is the last part of Bell's thought, "but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.”

The challenge with a new door, then, becomes walking away from the closing door and looking ahead to the door waiting, ready to be open.

We get the awesome privilege of deciding which doors we want to open for ourselves and how to best open them. No one else. It's up to each of us to do that for ourselves.

There is no mystery in the opening. It is not confusing or difficult. It's just a door. The power to open it and claim what lies behind it is entirely in your hands.

Once you've identified the door you would like to open for yourself, how do you walk through it? Are their skills that would make the opening easier? Who can help you open it and walk through it? Do you know people who have already walked through the same or similar door? Can you ask them to help you walk through? What will you do once you do walk through it? What will change? How will your life be different after walking through the door?

Opening a new door isn't hard in and of itself. It's a simple decision really. It starts with a commitment to change. A simple choice followed by simple small steps.

And remember, it's perfectly okay - perhaps preferable - to open several doors, look around, see what's behind them, close them if you'd like, come back to them later.

Best to focus on and celebrate the opening door as you graciously walk with confidence away from the one closing.