Unlocking the Doors!

In 2000 I was the director of Good News Community, a support group for people going through separation, divorce, or loss of relationship.  The office was in an older building which was for the most part, vacant.  There was only one other business in it, which was not used very much.  When I first started working at there,  I had to unlock 7 doors  every day to begin my work!  The first door let me into the building itself, and the second door let me into the Good News office.  I understood the two outside doors being locked.  However, there were five other rooms in the office, and I had been told that those five doors had to be locked and unlocked daily!    It really made no sense to me, but I just followed the instructions of the person before me, often thinking what a waste of time it was!

That process went on for over a year.  Eventually, I had to call the maintenance man to check something in the office, and while he was there, I asked him why I needed to lock the 5 inner doors.  He just looked at me in confusion, and said, “You don’t!”  So for over a year, I had been locking and unlocking the five inside doors for no reason at all!  I had been told to do it, so I did it, even though it felt senseless and took several minutes each day!  After several months, it had become a habit, and an annoying one at that!

How often in our lives, do we do something because it has become a habit?  Perhaps someone has told us that it HAS to done a certain way, or perhaps we have just never stopped to think that there might be a better way to do something.  We don’t take the time to check things out; to see if there is another or easier way to do an activity. A person does not want to get out of their comfort zone so they become stuck. Sometimes the way we do things may become very self-defeating, but we don’t stop to make a conscious decision to change things.  We just get stuck!

Too many times we lock doors to protect ourselves, only to find out that protection is not needed.  Having to use the key over and over again just becomes a habit, even though it may not make much sense.  It is easy to get stuck in unhealthy patterns and not even be aware of it. Making changes in one’s life, getting rid of the old negative habits, and unlocking doors can bring about new meaning to your life.