This week’s 3 Tips – Closed doors, Open doors, No doors
Closed doors – Recently had a door closed in your life or career you were not expecting? What are closed doors? And I’m not referring here to closing the bathroom door for some privacy. Closed doors are when we want something, need something, don’t want to lose something etc. and the door slams in our face subtly or overtly saying to us: Not now, not ever, you don’t deserve this, you really don’t want this, if you knew how it would turn out if the door was open and you went through it you would regret the action. Why do doors close and what can we do when they do and it doesn’t matter if it’s a career door, business door, relationship door, financial door – got it?
They close because the universal flow of life is beyond our comprehension and our role is to often accept what comes to us and yes, just flow. This doesn’t mean you should just sit idly by watching life progress and taking a passive role, but to accept the fact that there are reasons doors close that we may never know the why’s, when’s or where’s. The simple truth is that when a door closes we can fight back, trudge on, keep trying to open the door or we can learn from the process accepting that it wasn’t meant to be for whatever reason. Again I’m not suggesting this – kay surah, surah life approach but the willingness to ask what am I supposed to learn and then move on waiting for the next door to open. Easy? Never. Necessary? Yes.
Open doors – There are times when we go through an open door just because it’s there. The problem is – just because a door opens doesn’t mean we have to go through it. I can’t tell you how many open doors I have gone through in my life – when in hindsight looking back at how a situation or relationship turned out, if I had known in advance the consequences I would have not gone through it. Why do we go through open doors? You’ve heard the saying – “When a door closes a new door opens.” This doesn’t mean we should jump at every opportunity.
Usually when a door opens that we want, we tend to fail to pay attention to others that are open for us and choose to go through a certain one based on our needs, desires, fears, hopes or goals that are grounded in the short term rather than the long term. How do you know if you should go through a particular open door? Listen to your inner voice and it will guide you in the right direction- I promise you, but if you only use ego, the need for control, fear, attachment to outcomes or failure to try and see the long term you will go through the wrong open door. But when you do choose to go through an open door do it with faith, courage, wisdom, maturity and commitment.
No doors – So, we have covered the basics regarding closed and open doors. Either of these topics could be a 200 page book but I have kept them as short as possible and to the point as this is the format for these tips. Now let’s take a brief look at – no doors. You might ask – how can there be no doors – they are either open or closed? No doors doesn’t mean there are no closed or open doors – it means that you can’t or won’t recognize them or acknowledge them for any number of reasons. Yes, they are always there but there are many factors that can prevent you from seeing them. Here are a few. You are stuck in a current mindset, attitude or opinion about something. You are afraid to admit that you are unwilling to go through an open door or you are in a negative mental position to accept a closed door to trust what is right or best for you now or you’re future. How many people do you think go through their day, career, relationships or life failing to recognize doors as open or closed – they are blind to what lies in front of them? You might be surprised at the percentage of people who are just living life in a limbo state unwilling to risk something new or different and embrace the uncertainty of the future and how it might impact the quality of the rest of their life.
Live wisely this week, Tim