A Helen Keller Quote:
"When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us." -- Helen Keller
Helen Keller had a really rough life. At the age of 18 months she developed an illness that left her without sight or hearing. And in those days (1880), it was believed that such a thing was impossible to overcome, that she was going to always be (what they termed) an idiot, and there was no hope for her.
This woman is now famous in our history books. Everybody knows her name. Most people have some knowledge of her life. She lived to be 88. And what an inspiration she is to us still, to this day!
I wish I would think about this woman when I begin to think I am overwhelmed with challenges and difficulties. I wish I would think about how impossible her fight must have seemed, what a long way she had to go to achieve such incredible success. I feel like I have quite a sizeable head start compared to her journey!
I have a tendency to sit at the closed door and park myself there for a stubborn eternity. I want this door to open! I want his door to move! I want this door to be my passageway to the place that I envision on the other side. But what if it is empty, not at all like I envision? What if the other side of this door is empty and has nothing for me? What if I need to move on and grow and learn and stop banging my head on closed doors?
Then, if that is so, then I have to force myself to get my feet underneath me, to turn my back on my own vision of what I want, to trust the flow of life enough to move with it, and to open my eyes. Helen Keller may have been blind, but she had incredible sight. And she may have also been deaf, but the music she heard inside of her head was a symphony of beautiful notes.
I have had many doors slammed in my face this past year and I have had heard the locks slide in place with a permanence that echos and haunts me. And there comes a time when we must admit that these doors may not be our destiny and they may not be full of the comforting images that we visualize. They very well may be empty. And if that is the case, then I need to move on and I need to learn to stop knocking on a door of my choosing. Perhaps life has more in store for me than a closed door. Perhaps I will see it and hear it if I just learn how to move forward. The first step is maybe the hardest. Maybe it gets easier after that.
Here are a couple more quotes from her:
“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.”
“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt within the heart.”
