Do you ever have days where you feel like a little mouse in a virtual science experiment?

You know the ones they send into a maze to study different motivation for helping it find its way through. For decades lab rats have been the staple for these psychological experiments to document the methods that work as the poor little mouse runs around hitting his head against the wall, dead end after dead end.

That’s how life has felt recently. I set a goal and the door to accomplish it is slammed in my face,  as if there wasn’t a way through at all.

For example I had just begun to get back in the habit I’m doing my little run/walk cardio routine in the local park three times a week. (If you’ve ever started a new exercise routine or re-started one you know how critical it is to regain your momentum and keep it.) Then, because this is 2020 and it just seems like the thing to do, the city decides to close the park l(actual locked barriers were put up at the entrance) for the holiday weekend.

So I adjust and eventually get back on schedule. Until (because like I said it is 2020 ) they close the parks permanently( not just for the holiday weekend. )

I have to admit it takes a lot for me to just get up an hour earlier, get dressed and get psyched up to get out to do cardio – so having that obstacle to overcome was more frustrating because I was ready to take action!

So I did, I decided at that moment I would have to go with what was available to me.

When you are confronted with a closed door or dead end how do you respond?

Make a decision to survey your options and take action!

I went in the house put my dog on a leash and took her to explore our neighborhood. What I found amazed me. I can honestly say I have never been more than a couple of streets past my own. And I’ve only walked beyond my own street once in the 14 years I’ve lived here.

In the very back of my neighborhood was a beautiful immaculate oasis of homes overlooking the river. Even more wonderful were the people that I saw not just on the first day or the second day but the third and fourth as I continued to utilize the open door in the maze to my backyard.

When I was younger I had a beautifully illustrated card by Mary Engelbreit that reminded me to “Bloom where your planted”.

Maybe closed doors are not obstacles after all – maybe they are just walls in the maze keeping us from going in the wrong direction and helping us find a treasure we may have missed.

I would love to hear what you discover when you look for new opportunities in your own backyard.

I pray that they give you a fresh perspective and the opportunity to bloom where you’re planted.