Month: December 2013

The Closed Door

When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.

Alexander Graham Bell

At the beginning of November, I was fired from my part-time retail job.  When it happened, I was seized with a moment of short-term-thinking-panic (what will I do?, I have no income coming in!, etc.).  For those who have faced unemployment, you know that feeling I’m describing – kind of like free-falling with no safety net.  And I don’t mean in the Tom Petty-greatest-hits kind of way.  Because I have been downsized a couple of times in the past (and walked away from jobs as well), that moment of short-term-thinking-panic didn’t grip me as fiercely as it has in the past.  Nor did it last long.  Which was good because I have since had a few doors open for me that are more closely related to my career background (which is not retail) and the direction to which I would like to return career-wise.  I worked a short-term assignment that allowed me to enjoy meeting yet another group of new people.  Getting to and fro was arduous at best but I pulled off logistical feats that amounted to getting there and back for the three days I was assigned to work.  However, that is not the door that fortunately has opened.  I am currently on an assignment that feels right because of the location, atmosphere and the people with whom I work.  It, too, is a temporary assignment; but for now, it feels as if I am walking a path of open-door opportunities that will lead to a better professional outcome than my more recent experiences.


If I turn my head and look behind me, I can see the sky and clouds over New Orleans and the river meandering through the city.  I can regard other skyscrapers that dot the skyline – from an equally high-altitude.  The view and the feeling of increased opportunity are priceless.

 

 

Currently, I spend little time looking at the door that closed, instead, I look at the door that has opened.  And during moments when I stare out the window into the clouds, I imagine the next greater door/opportunity that will open as well.