Open the Door!

New Year’s Day Reflection – 2016   

I have been thinking a lot about doors lately. Actually, I like to take pictures of doors. If doors talked, they would tell fascinating stories about who they provided entry to as well as egress.

Doors are a metaphor.

Yesterday we closed the door on a year. If you wanted to do something in 2015, it is too late. Some doors close never to be opened again. The past is past. We do have memories, positive and negative, about the past year. Many of these memories will go with us into this new year.

How do we deal with these memories? Some we need to let go of because they eat at our souls. Resentments and regrets can be very destructive. Learning to forgive ourselves and forgive others is one way to close the door on the past. Some of the memories, such as the birth of a child or a grandchild, are positive and we will want to celebrate them every year.

Today is door to a new year.

Doors are an invitation.  A door says, “Come in and see.” Open your eyes to see in a new way what the new year has to offer.

Doors are ways to separate. Each new day marks the opportunity for new entry. You cannot relive yesterday; you can only live for the present. One of the sayings of the Twelve step program is “You can start your day over any time you want to.”

Doors communicate their own message. Some days the door is a very official looking front door. You may be looking at a new job or a new relationship or a significant relocation. These changes will come though a front door.

Then there are back doors. These doors are often not seen by the public. They are the doors we use to greet old friends and take out the garbage. They have an intimacy all of their own; only very good friends and family are invited in through the back door. Some of us will use our back door today to throw out some overdue garbage from the past. We are deciding that some resentments, some relationships, some habits need to be discarded.

And there are side doors. These are doors of exploration. They can be formal doors such as the door we use to seek information about new jobs and more education. Or they can be informal doors such as exploring new friendships, new hobbies, and new interests.  

There is also interesting language we use about doors. Here are some of the terms we use about doors:

Open up doors

Foot in the door

Knock on doors

Unlock the door

Slam the door ….

Kick the door open

Shut the door in …… face

Show someone the door

When you think about the above terms often associated with doors which ones might apply about how you are going approach 2016?

Ronald Friesen © 2016