A Good Start

Caught this quote on the Internet the other day:

“When one door closes another door opens, but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the ones which open for us.”                        ~Alexander Graham Bell

Bell knew this lesson intimately. He discovered things, invented items. He thought up gadgets and wondered how they would serve the needs of others. But the process of invention, of discovering is not happenstance. It is discipline.

Alexander Graham Bell was devoted to the scientific method. When one experiment failed he analyzed it to best understand what was good about the experience and what was wrong. Why did something work the way it did? And why did the expected not occur? What was missing? What ingredient or process step was needed?

And so he returned to the unfinished task. Not starting from scratch but starting where he left off. He pushed his limits of understanding. A door closed on an idea or process or opportunity. What other doors remained for him to try?

He did not dwell on the closed door except to wonder why it didn’t work as expected. He kept at the task and invented the telephone.

Much the way Thomas Alva Edison worked in his laboratory. Edison went from invention to invention, accumulating discoveries galore and enthusing a nation to the future. And bright future it is – was – remains! Not just because of the electric light and bulbs…but the technology and expansion of man’s understanding of his possibilities.

The same is true in relationships, is it not? It takes work to learn what works and what doesn’t. It isn’t just about the relationship either, the other person in the equation. It is about self understanding as well. We may try but we do not always succeed in knowing ourselves fully. That, too, takes discipline and hard work. Knowing self so I can know others more fully. A good objective but how difficult is it to achieve?

Rocky found this on the Internet recently:

“Keep people in your life that truly love you, motivate you,

Encourage you, inspire you, enhance you and make you happy.

If you have people who do none of the above, let them go.”

Talk about closed doors! Some people slam them in your face without realizing it. Others are the door themselves! But finding the people who represent open doors, new possibility, growth and freedom, those pieces of future we all need.

Development paths are different widths and lengths among each of us.  And all at different moments. Synchronizing with another person may not be possible at any given time. So knowing when the relationship works or doesn’t is really up to you to ponder and take action on. I have left friends and them me over the years. We could not connect properly. We got in each other’s way. It is the way the world works. Do not beat yourself up; or them!

From Facebook.com/LoveQuotes.Sayings comes this beautiful thought:

“When someone loves you they don’t have to say it; you can tell by the way they treat you.”

           

That is a good thought to leave you with this day.  Have a good week!

August 13, 2012