Maybe a door that
closes is small and made of plywood or huge and made of Australian hardwood,
but it's still a door that closed; and you feel you're not standing on the side
you thought you would be. Now what?
Inventor Alexander
Graham Bell said, “When one door closes,
another one opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the
closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us.”
One kindness we can do
for ourselves is to have dreams or goals, aim for them, move toward them, but
remain flexible. Some things turn out just as we hoped. Some turn out better
than we imagined; and others go in a direction opposite of where our target was
or what we believe we want. Sometimes a door closes not because we were
rejected, but because of something we rejected at the inner level. It’s very
easy to say we want something and yet deep down we either don’t actually want
it or don’t want it enough to do what it takes, or we know at our core that it
isn’t right for us, or we doubt that we deserve it. The only person who can
know which is the one that is a match for you at such a time is you.
The One Source has set
up this Universe and version of reality so that all forms of abundance, prosperity,
and wellbeing, on all levels, are yours—always and in all ways. But Source can
only provide these to you as a result of your mental attitudes: that’s part of
its set-up, so that all of us have ongoing opportunities to choose how we
experience, expand, and evolve. If your mental attitude, likely instilled in
you and reinforced by others, is one of lack or being undeserving, you possibly
or probably, through your mental attitudes, reject your Good without realizing
it more often than you realize.
I know someone who,
years back, envisioned her target. Over time, she attempted to sneak up on it;
sometimes she took aim, fired, and missed. Were she to be scored on
determination and tenacity, her number would be quite high; but she forgot to
remember her target was in a field shared by others and influenced by life. She
forgot to be flexible. So fixated was she on her desired “door,” when another one
opened that offered the best outcome, she couldn't see it for what it was and
not only slammed the door, but cemented it shut.
Maybe each of us has
done something similar. Her story is an example of someone who doesn't simply
have a goal or dream, but an agenda. People with goals or dreams, keep their
eyes, minds, and hearts open for and to others and resources that help make it
happen, and they modify or adjust as needed. Those with an agenda manipulate,
or try to, and get angry or despondent when things don't go their way. If
the door they focus on closes, they fail to notice they're standing in a room
full of doors where equal or better outcomes await them.
I paraphrase a quote we
should keep in mind when events don’t go as we hoped: A “rejection” may be for
our protection. Rejection does tie in with perceived closed doors. Whenever we
face a major life change, it’s feasible that we might feel life itself has
rejected us and our desired outcome. Ultimately, rejection happens in only one
place: Within ourselves. What the closed door represents has all to do with
feelings or emotions we may have to heal or deal with. At some point, we should
recognize that the door is closed, perhaps even locked, perhaps for our own
protection. When we acknowledge this, we can give ourselves permission to make
a slow circle and notice the other doors available to us, ones we haven’t
noticed before. For some of us, the only way we ever walk through the right-for-us
door is if the one we’d attached ourselves to slams in our face.
Next time a door
closes for you, plywood or hardwood, take the time you need to experience what
you feel. Allow yourself to look for what can be learned or state that even if
you can't see it now, there is surely something you can gain from your
experience. Any form of rejection is always an opportunity to learn something
about ourselves. Then, take a couple of deep calming breaths, draw your
shoulders back, stand up straight, and look around until you find the door you
are meant to walk through next. Go ahead. Take that first step. Your life, and
the Good it wants to provide to you, is waiting for you to arrive. It’s a
good practice, one you’ll appreciate.
Practice makes progress.
© Joyce L. Shafer
You are welcome to use this article in your
newsletter or on your blog/website as long as you use my complete bio with it.
Joyce L. Shafer is a Life Empowerment
Coach dedicated to helping people feel, be, and live their true inner power.
She’s author of “I Don’t Want to be Your Guru, But I Have Something to Say” and
other books/e-books, and publishes a free weekly online newsletter that offers
empowering articles. See all that’s offered by Joyce and on her site at http://stateofappreciation.weebly.com
No comments:
Post a Comment