Carrying The Door

Do you remember when you graduated from high school and headed off to college or stepped into the work force for the first time? That first year felt awkward and foreign like you were an alien from another planet. Or what about the first child that left home? You were mom and dad, you were caretaker and caregiver, you were event planner and taxi 24/7 and now all of it was gone. I can hear both shouts of relief and tears of pain at the same time. And then there is the job or career. You step into this role and over the years you become so adept at how to perform your tasks you know what’s coming before it arrives. Then the clients or customers slowly begin to dry up, the company begins to restructure and downsize and you find yourself struggling to find new clients or standing outside the company you’ve invested in for 10, 15 or 20 years with a pink slip in your hand.

All three examples have this one thing in common; they all had a door to step through when we began. We gladly and willingly stepped through that door. Over time we were so committed to that door that we took it off it’s hinges and strapped it to our backs. The only problem is that when significant change occurred we didn’t want to take it off. Rather than work on our own Identity we took on the Identity of what was in front of us. We became the caretaker and caregiver, we became the event planner and taxi driver, we became the employee that took the extra work load, we became the employee who gave up their weekends and we became the employee or business owner who devoted their life to the business. We gladly wore the door of Identity that belonged to someone else. 

So what’s the answer? Where do we go from here? For those who feel like the skies are darkening over them and the bite of the cold wind of hopelessness is beginning to blow and consume them, consider giving the door back. Consider taking the door of Identity off of your back and putting the door in its rightful place, where it belongs. Although we may have carried a door of Identity from another source for years it has never dislodged our Authentic self from it’s foundation, our focus was just a little off. Before you look outward for another door look inward toward your own Authentic self and how you were unique created. With clarity, now begin to work harder on yourself than you do your job. I can promise you from this vantage point; you will never carry the weight of someone else’s door of Identity again. Doors are meant for you to walk through bringing the fullness of your Authentic Self no matter if one door closes or another opens, which is a lot more fun than being a taxi 24/7.