CLOSED DOORS

By Christine Jayakaran

We keep hearing of open doors of opportunity and experience but we hardly hear about the closed doors that often precede those open doors. Imagine if your whole life was one of only open doors! Can you envision just how crazy that would be? We would be overwhelmed with all the openings and opportunities and may hardly do justice to the many things we put our hands to. I'm coming to realise that closed doors are really the best thing that could happen to us.

When I look at some of the doors in my life that have been slammed shut I have profound gratitude.

Admittedly, at the time of slamming, gratitude was the last emotion I felt! I spent a long time staring at those closed doors, examining them by the hinges if there was any way I could bust through them, coaxing the handle to turn, threatening it with my tears and tantrums. Those doors, thankfully, stayed dead-bolted.

I have realised over time though that

The grass is not necessarily greener on the other side of the closed door. You may hear of excitement and many happenings on the other side of that door but you are better off staying where you are on the right side of the closed door.

The unknown is not a bad thing. The open door usually has a high level of uncertainty associated with it. It requires more trust to walk through it than it does to knock on a closed door. As the unknown beckons take those first few baby steps towards it and you ll find it easier to keep going.

Open windows lead to open doors. Sometimes after a closed door experience we don't necessarily encounter open doors but we do experience smaller openings sometimes as small as an air vent. But do not overlook or discount these windows as they are those which provide you invaluable experience and prepare you for the bigger Doors that will surely open up! Those windows let the sun shine in and give you hope for all that the future has for you.