There is always one more door

​Alexander Graham Bell is often credited with saying, "when one door closes another one opens."

After he died, it was reported that what he actually said was, "when one door closes another one opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us."

I think that clarified version of the quote is more appropriate. I don't think doors in life just automatically open for us. Life isn't always the Marriott.

I think we have to reach out and grab the knob and yank the doors wide open in our life. Regret is certainly a reason we don't. But I think there are many more reasons why we fail to open them.

David Goggins recently talked about the places in life where our mind gets tired and exhausted and dark and goes to the edge of believing quitting is the only option. Goggins says:

"The choices and options you have in front of you start to shrink. This makes it very easy to abandon ship. Before you abandon ship, know this... there is always one more door that you haven't opened."

In my experience, it's behind that one more door where we find what we are truly capable of.

Running has taught me that. There have been races I quit in the middle of because I believed I didn't have one more step in me. Then, a year or two later, back in those same races, back in the space of believing there isn't one more step to take, I found a step.

And then another.

Writing has taught me that. Some mornings I wander through writing an article. Look at it. Decide this is awful. Hit delete and concede I just have nothing today. Only to go take a break. Drink a cup of coffee. Come back and sit down and go at it again - and write something meaningful.

The problem with believing you've reached a dead end in running or writing - or in a job or in a relationship or in anything you are taking on - is that you feel defeated. You feel defeated because you feel like you've tried everything, which leaves you feeling exhausted.

An exhausted mind wants you to stop - stop and find cover and find rest. An exhausted mind doesn't want to try any more doors, and the easiest way to skip trying more doors is convincing ourselves there are no more doors.

How much of your life have you left behind because you missed going through doors you convinced yourself didn't exist?

How much more of yourself will you discover today if you convince yourself there is always one more door? There is at least one I haven't opened yet. When you believe there is one more you keep going.

The real exhaustion in life is believing there are no more doors. That's a belief fueled by giving up. Giving up is as close as one can get to dying while still breathing; there is little difference between death and giving up.

Freedom and life, well that is found in walking through doors we once believed didn't exist. The confidence to walk through new doors is fueled by discovery. Discovery is hope. Hope wants to wake up every single day.

One more door. Let that be your mantra this week.

There is always ONE MORE DOOR.