Day #40 in A Year of Positivity

“Often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.” – Helen Keller

Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining me on Day #40 in A Year of Positivity! Today’s spectacular quote comes from a very inspiring individual, Helen Keller. The quote I’m so excited to share with you today is, “Often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.”

When I look at this quote, the first thing that comes to mind is seasons. There’s a time for everything and everyone in our lives, and everything and everyone has a place in time, a season. Some people may only be here in our lives for a season or two, some may be with us for many, many seasons. The same concept applies to circumstances we may find. It goes without saying that this also applies to our professional and personal lives.

For example, when I lived out in San Diego, California, I had a job where I was a Customer Service Specialist. My main duties were assisting tax preparers and taxpayers from all over the country during the income tax season, which in the United States runs from January to April of each calendar year. Out in San Diego, it was my favorite job. My reasons why? Well, for starters, I loved the management team, as they were respectful, efficient, and wonderful to get along with.

Additionally, while morning haters may think I’m crazy to say this, I quite enjoyed starting my shift at 6 o’clock in the morning (Pacific Standard Time). I would get out of work early enough in the day that I could do my banking, and my grocery shopping, along with cooking dinner, followed by catching a sunset on the pier of Pacific Beach (when I only lived ten blocks from the beach with Sea World just a 3-minute drive on the other side of where I lived).

However, as sad as I am to say, being that tax season is only four months of the year, this means that my job was only temporary. In addition to this, at the time I was living out there in California, the company never hired a temporary agent past the second tax season, regardless of how well they did as a Customer Service Specialist. I don’t know if that’s the way it is to this day (maybe that policy’s changed by now; I have no clue, so don’t hold me to this, lol), but the point is, my time with them was limited.

I ended up returning home to Pennsylvania just a month later for family matters, but often I’ve looked back at that job and I smile on the wonderful memories, the friendships I made on the floor, supervisors and reps alike (as well as in my personal life at church). Sometimes, I wish I was back in those days, but that door of going back to San Diego with my San Diego church family, and to that company, as much as I loved it all, is now closed and padlocked.

My time in San Diego had its seasons and I’m thankful I left the west coast when I did because it gave me extra time with my Granduncle Donny before he passed away, time I would’ve lost had I remained out in San Diego. I also look at where I am today on the personal and professional fronts, and I see how much I’ve learned, how much I’ve grown, and I now work for another great company, with a wonderful management team, and a fantastic team of co-workers.

Just because one door is closed doesn’t mean you can’t cherish the wonderful memories you made when you walked through it once upon a time. A closed door, however, means there’s something else waiting for you, but don’t forget to take the lessons you’ve also learned through the hard times as you walk through the new door – you know, the one that’s open and eagerly waiting for you. You never know what kind of exciting people you’ll meet, and the equally exciting opportunities you’ll find when you let go of the closed door and embrace the one that’s been opened before you.

All it takes is one breath and one step.