Most of us have heard something similar to this phrase before. Thankfully, today’s fortune is more than just a pleasant platitude. It is rooted in hard science.

We live in a world of opposites. Hot and cold, dark and light, hard and soft, straight and curved, good and evil. You get the picture. Where doors are concerned, we also have opposites—open and closed.

A closed door keeps objects from passing through it; an open door allows objects to pass through.

When we find ourselves in a desperate or less-than-desirous situation, it seems as though the doors of opportunity have slammed shut. We feel trapped, unable to pass through. Stuck in a box with no way out.

And it may very well be true.

But much of our situation hinges on which side of the door we are standing.

And also who is doing the closing.

If we are trying to exit a room and someone (or something) else closes the door on us, then we may experience those pangs of despair.

But what if we’ve just left a room and we are closing the door behind us? Same net result—a closed door and a closed off room—but with an entirely different outcome.

Joseph Campbell famously said, “We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.”

To often we are the ones refusing to shut the doors that are no longer serving us. Our so-called room—no matter how painful—feels comfortable to us. It is what we know. We are hesitant to leave it. We fear closing the door and blocking our safe retreat.

But the other side of the door is where opportunity lives—where our life is waiting for us.

Trust that when one door closes another will open.

To your good fortune!