Sometimes You Get Salsa . . .

Which Door Will You Choose?

Sometimes You Get Salsa . . .

You’re standing on a street in the middle of a severe rainstorm with no raincoat, no rubber boots, no umbrella, nothing but the skin you were born in. Along the side walk in front of you, there are a hundred doors of various shapes and colours. Not one of those doors is locked. All you have to do is step through any one of them, and you’ll be out of the rain.

Each door is different, and each has a little sign on it. One door reads, “This door leads to heartache.” Another reads, “This door leads to great personal loss.” And still another reads, “This door leads to broken dreams.”

As you continue along the street, every sign on every door seems to promise yet another tragedy, another impending disaster in life. It’s all a bit perplexing, to say the least. After all, who needs another shot to the heart or a blow to the head? Where’s the door that reads, ”This door leads to happiness”? Where’s the door that reads, ”This door leads to undying love”? Where’s the door that reads, ”This door leads to lifelong security”?

Try as you might, you can’t find such a door. It’s just not there.

So there you are, drowning and freezing in the rain, and wondering what to do next.

Sometimes, life is just like that — a choice of nightmares.

Now, I know some of you will say that you have a faith in a higher power that you believe will see you through every crisis in life. Some will say that you have a lifelong companion and that you trust love to be the strength that guides you through every hardship. Others will say that it’s your children who keep you going and who make every struggle in life worthwhile.

Nothing wrong with being an optimist, but the sad truth is that faith has paralysing moments of doubt, even the strongest relationships crumble, and children leave, sometimes quite unexpectedly.

Some days, it’s going to be just you standing there in the freezing rain in front of a hundred hopeless doors. Some days, everything you believe to be true may simply come unglued. That, I'm afraid, is just one of the dilemmas of being human and being alive.

What the hell, pick any door, walk through it, and get out of the rain.

You don’t get to live life to the fullest without some heartache, some loss, or some horrible tragedy. Don’t want it? Don’t think you can handle it? Fine. Draw a circle around yourself, and don’t let anyone else in. Live separate from everything and everyone. Spray Scotchgard all over you, stand in the rain, and count off the years in quiet contemplation like a monk or a nun in deep seclusion somewhere in the Pyrenees Mountains.

If, however, you want a full life, then I’m afraid you will have to step through a few cruel doors of experience along the way. Try to meet each of these tragic moments as a test of the strength and courage that is within you. Don’t feel defeated. Don’t complain. Just step on through the door, and know that it’s not raining on every street.

Life . . . how wonderful and how painful. A strange and different recipe for each of us.

Just remember that, while it's easy to enjoy all that is good in life, you should never be afraid to accept a little hardship from time to time. Life's diner doesn’t always serve just chicken soup for the soul. Be prepared for a touch of heartburn when the cook goes a little crazy with the salsa.