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 | closing doors |
Have you ever noticed that closing doors makes things neater? Tidier? Simpler?
Close closet doors: clean(er) bedroom. Close bedroom doors: tidy hallway. Close cabinets: less-cluttered kitchen.
But you know what I do when I have a decision to make? What to wear, what to make for dinner? I throw open the doors. Because I need to see all the possibilities, all the pieces that can make up my next solution. My next step. My next plan of action.
Which has me thinking about how we do this in life, too. Sometimes we throw open the doors of possibility, and sometimes we slam them shut.
Because if we leave too many doors open, too many possibilities, we can easily get sidetracked from the important things we mean to be doing. Closing doors we never intend to walk through—or that aren’t right for us right now—simplifies our lives to help us focus on the possibilities that matter today.
But it’s easy to take that too far. Easy to forget to say yes, when saying no is less complicated. Are we closing doors too quickly? Doors that could hold promise? Just because it’s easier not to look into them too deeply? What will we give up, for the sake of simplicity? For comfort? For ease?
Usually I feel like I know whether it’s a season for closing doors or for looking for new ones to open. But sometimes I feel like the doors are in front of me, and I’m not sure which ones to open. Or how many to close.
How about you? Are you simplifying, or are you on the lookout for open doors?
SLAM! That’s what I’m doing over here. Not sure if that’s a good thing, either. But if I don’t close a couple of those suckers, I’m going to be in the corner, sucking my thumb, in the fetal position.
Yes! I am definitely in favor of avoiding complete meltdown. And I think sometimes I let doors linger open just a liiiiiittle too long, instead of just focusing my energy elsewhere.
Since I became a mother I’ve become much better at closing doors. Never was particularly good before. So glad I liberated myself and started to embrace this new philosophy. It feels good to just say no sometimes, to know that though an opportunity might be a good one, sometimes it just doesn’t come at the right time.
Timing is so important! And so many opportunities will come around again, though maybe in a different form… not that that makes it easier to walk away from the doors that are open Right Now.
I LOVE this metaphor. It’s so true! I love to close doors to make everything look nice and organized. When I’m cleaning, I often close the bedroom doors behind me as a physical sign that I’m done with that room. But when I need inspiration – for clothes or food – I open up all the doors. Really great observation.
This balance between saying yes and saying no is tricky. I don’t want to miss really great opportunities. But I also don’t want to be overwhelmed because I said yes to things I really don’t want to do. I guess there’s no easy answer…
Oh, balance. That elusive thing that I am not great at achieving!