Closed Doors; Open Windows
Sometime during the holiday season, you’ll probably hear a song from the movie The Sound of Music. “I simply remember my favorite things….” I love that movie! But it’s not the lyrics of a song from the movie that stand out. Rather it’s a piece of dialog from the scene where Maria is talking with Mother Superior about going back to the Von Trapp’s home after running back to the convent to escape her feelings of love for the captain. The Reverand Mother tells Maria as she sends her back, “When God closes a door, somewhere he opens a window.”
That line pops like a refrain into my mind often these days as I navigate this wobbly economy and watch others try their best to stay on track with life. Many doors slammed closed for many people as investment accounts shrink, jobs disappear, and industries teeter on the brink of extinction. The doors of my consulting practice developing learning programs and helping companies manage change slammed shut time and time again in recent months. But I continued to rush to the next door or knock on all the old doors again only to find them tightly shut.
Then I thought about Maria and the Reverend Mother from The Sound of Music and started wondering, “If all my doors are closed, then where are the open windows?” I asked myself questions designed to help me find some windows.
- What do I love to do?
- What gives meaning to my life?
- What skills do I have to offer?
- What can I give others?
- What am I interested in?
My answers led me to start this blog and to create workshops and tools to guide people through this crazy time, a time full of change, a time when we need to learn new ways to work, a time when we need inspiration to keep us going, and a time when sometimes, all we need is someone to listen as we sort it all out.
Hi Laura, I hear you loud and clear! Being in the mortgage industry and all, I have at least 5-20 calls per day from folks, like mysdelf who are wondering why they should continue making their mortgage payments on a home that they are underwater in and a loan that is too often something that they could not afford from the start. It all comes down to personal choice and responsibility. I took a consulting job this year to make up for my diminished income. I also decided to do some belt tightening on things that I don’t need like a Chai latte every morning at Starbucks and Showtime on cable T.V. to name a few. I created a vision board for 2009. Since my birthday will be 09-09-09 what better time than now to vision what the possibilities are for me this year, and create the intention to achieve them? I want fewer better things in my life. More to share with others and some left over to allow me to travel and do things I enjoy. I think that for most people the hardest question to answer is What do I love to do? We are so accustomed to doing what we think we HAVE to do, that we have forgotten what we are passionate about doing. I have a great Chineese proverb to share or it could be a haiku not sure which it is ” Barn burned down, now I can see the stars. ” In 2009 there will be constellations revealed like never before. Namaste, T.