Opening New Doors: Fright or Delight?

We often hear that when one door closes, another one opens. We don’t often talk about the fears we might have of opening those new doors for ourselves.

Opening doors that are rusty requires trusting what might be on the other side. Miracles or monsters could be lurking, and yet the mystery is compelling in the way that vacations to new places compel us to take barriers down and salsa or cha-cha through a portal that can feel both ancient and futuristic.

Fragments of an older self might rush forward to rearrange themselves into a more current version of truth. We might make a personal commitment to live according to the law of “who am I being?” not “who have I been?” up until that moment.

This phenomenon is a bit like cliff diving in that there is sometimes a moment of hesitation, both feet clinging tightly to the rocks of the cliff before enough inner momentum and courage combine to cause leaping.

The rewards are instantaneous in the free-fall toward unknown territories of rich inner and outer landscapes. Brain no longer recognizes “has been” and lives in the luscious vibration of becoming. Vacation has come to hold new meaning for me. I sense the power of “vacating” who I knew myself to be.

I oscillate like some amoebic creature toward the edge of greater potential and possibility for my life. This chemistry, made of moments of fresh choosing, creates new compounds of being not listed in any current periodic table. I am a new element somewhere beyond gold and platinum.

What new doors are opening in your life right now? Can you name both the excitement and the fears about becoming the person who can open and walk through those doors?