They open at the close.

Yes, this is stolen borrowed (in part) from the magical inscription found <Spoiler Alert> on the snitch that Harry Potter caught in his mouth at his very first Quidditch match in The Sorcerer’s Stone and is returned to Harry six years later in The Deathly Hollows and yes, it’s true, I am an overtly mildly obsessive, freaky Harry Potter fan and yes, last weekend I spent four fantastic days in Florida with the primary purpose of visiting The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal’s Island of Adventure but NO, this is not a post about Harry Potter.

It’s about doors; the opening and closing of doors. And the inscription fits nicely.

Doors: They open at the close.

This is a crazy time of year when people are in constant motion, what with all the barbeques and pool parties; weddings and graduations as well as Stepping Up and Stepping Stones ceremonies to attend. I feel like all I’ve been doing over the past several weeks, is going in and out of doors and it got me thinking about all the many different types of doors we pass through in a lifetime.

There are doors that lead us to happy places and doors that don’t.

Doors we’re prepared to go through and doors we’re not.

Some doors are closed off temporarily and others are left ajar with the knowledge that it’s not quite time to close or open them fully. Something is still lingering. Something is left undone. You don’t have the strength or courage to close it or walk through it just yet and every once in a while a slight draft comes through reminding us that we need to get back to that door someday. Maybe.

Sometimes it can take years to pry-open a door but through patience, perseverance and determination, we manage to get through.

At other times, it takes only seconds or a few harsh words to close a door — forever.

Then there are swinging doors, the ones we rush through without thinking, only to get smacked in the butt by them before we even reach the other side, reminding us, it might have been wiser to take it slower and proceed with caution.

Perhaps then, we wouldn’t have gotten hurt so badly.

There are doors too, that we walk through willingly with other people, doors we are guided through as we follow another in trust, doors we enter, arm-in-arm with the one we love.

And of course, there are those doors we’re meant to go through completely alone, even though we have no idea what lies beyond them and despite the fear of the unknown, we continue on, making it necessary to trust ourselves and all we know we can be.

In the end, there is The Door, the one that leads us to the other side – assuming there is one.

As long as we’re living however, I think one thing is for certain: there will always be another door and the most important thing to remember is not to shut yourself out – from living life that is.

Try to make the most of what you find behind each door before going through the next.

But keep moving forward and always reach for the next the door.

What kind of door are you passing through?

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