“When one door closes, another door opens.”
That makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it? Certainly, all the life-planning experts tell us it’s the only way to approach life, with its multiple setbacks and opportunities.
Don’t worry about the door that’s just closed. Set your face toward the one that’s about to open. That way, you’ll be ready when the opportunities come.
What a wonderful philosophy!
But, on the other hand, have you ever had a door slammed in your face? Literally, I mean. A door that visually cut you off and shut you out. A door that threatened to smash your fingers.
I remember, as a child, getting my fingers caught in a car door. It was an accident, of course. But all the same, that slammed door hurt desperately.
Fortunately, most of the time people are too polite to slam doors. Unless they’re symbolic doors, that is.
There are so many kinds of doors in the world. There are sliding doors and double French doors through which you can watch the ever-changing beauty of your backyard.
There are doors with locks and those without locks. There are doors with only a peephole to inspect the danger on the other side.
Doors can keep people out. Or let them in. A door can end an opportunity, or begin it. There are open doors that beg you to enter. And then there are closed doors.
And one thing for sure about life is that you can’t get to this side of 60 without understanding all about closed doors. We lose a job, or a family member. We fail to get a treasured promotion. We’re voted out of an office we wanted to keep.
Much of the pain of life comes from closed doors.
On the other hand, have you ever noticed how often a new door actually opens? Take Phyllis Diller, for example. She might never have been a nationally-known comedian if the prestigious Fountainbleau Hotel in Miami Beach hadn’t closed her act after the first night.
If it hadn’t been for that painful firing, Diller would have been in Florida when Jack Paar of The Tonight Show was looking in New York for an act that would be readily available.
And according to Diller, those two things—the door closing and the door opening—were what led to her rapid rise to fame.
Arthur Pine tells Diller’s story in “One Door Closes, Another Door Opens.” And he also tells the stories of 50 other well-known people who, like Diller, are lucky that a door was once slammed in their faces.
Pine doesn’t recommend giving in easily to closed doors. No, he says if you see a door closing and want it to stay open, fight. Stick your foot in the door.
But when a door finally slams shut, forget it. Life is simply too short to spend it standing around looking at closed doors.
So think about it today. What doors would you like to see open in your life? Why not go looking for them? Get your toe in. And before you know it, you might have walked into the most exciting experience of your life.
Marie Snider is an award-winning health care writer and syndicated columnist. Write her at thisside60@aol.com or visit www.visit-snider.com
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
