Open Door Policy

Life centres around rejection and acceptance. One is a closed door, slammed shut. The other is an open door to wonderful new things. The way to life is twofold: embrace the open doors, and let go of those closed-door-in-our-face experiences.

Having an open door policy is not so much just about welcoming people into the offices of our lives, but actively looking for open doorways presented as opportunities and taking less notice of the rejections.

Encountering Closed Doors

It’s no good being frustrated by the closed doors.

Yet, we’ve all been there, backed up against the ropes, swinging plenty of air punches as we try to get through. There is no use in trying to pound down certain doors. They will not be opened for us. We must accept this as God’s will, if we are to remain positive.

And still we will struggle. Sometimes we are not ready to accept rejection. We take it too personally, and in our right, honest and subconscious minds we know it. We just can’t admit it just yet.

It’s hard.

Hoping for Open Doors

Really what we want, just we may not know it right now, is the presence of even one open door; one opportunity where we are wanted... indeed, needed.

Eventually the open door does come, and we may even be surprised as to the look and feel of that door. Perhaps we didn’t expect it. We didn’t look for it to come in that shape or size or colour or weight. Again, God has surprised us. (Isn’t it funny, we never get used to these surprises?)

When the open door eventually presents it inspires, yet again, our passion; where once we were lost in rejection, now we are found—embraced in the new thing. We have purpose once more.

Implementing the Open Door Policy

Our main challenge is to install the ability to seek open door experiences and simultaneously disregard, efficiently, the closed door experiences.

We don’t want those closed doors to mar our enjoyment of life. So, why do we let them have power? We let them have power because we don’t actively look for the open door. We can’t cancel a negative with a negative. The power of a negative can only be annulled by the winsome positive.

So, what we have the opportunity to do is note the experience of the closed door whilst quickly reverting to a ‘what next?’ focus. The closed door is merely the neon sign ushering the open door. Simultaneous with our ‘what next?’ focus needs to come the ability and willingness to let go. That, many times, is a process. But if we are committed to letting go, that process will become quicker and easier.

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God closes some doors to us so that better opportunities present via open doors. We don’t always know why at the time. But the sense and reason opening the right door is always there.

© 2011 S. J. Wickham.