“Close some doors. Not because of pride, incapacity or arrogance, but simply because they no longer lead somewhere.”
Paulo Coelho
Opening doors has an upbeat connotation-promise, optimism, and excitement; closing doors sounds like a downer- deflated, missing out, not making the cut.
Not going too far out on a philosophical limb without a rope and harness (i.e. any legitimate study of existentialism), here’s Kierkegaard 101 on the connection between despair and too much possibility.
Too much possibility (open doors) is the gateway to becoming ungrounded and out of touch with anchoring realities. Which way to turn? What’s behind Door # 3? I’d hate to miss out on the next great thing. Where does it end? Too much overwhelms-maybe not at first, but eventually. It leads to regret, heavy heart, and even despair. But so can too little. A dark hall with no doors, just one dead end after another is where woe and despondency lurk and where no one wishes to make their acquaintance.
The work is finding balance between opened and closed doors. Not every knock needs to be answered.
Consider the Brazilian writer, Coelho’s advice for finding both your promise and your limits. Which doors should you fling open and which should you firmly shut? Closing a door doesn’t mean you’re lazy, or inept or hubristic. It just means you know yourself. And it’s a self that is content with enough. An independent self