by Karen Frazier, Managing Editor
Paranormal Underground Magazine

There is an old adage that surely you’ve heard at some point in your life. “When one door closes, another opens.”

There have been times in my life where someone has told me that in order to cheer me up, and has felt cruel or mocking. At other times, it has felt trite. And yet 20/20 hindsight shows me over and over again that in every single instance where a door has closed, another has opened. Even if I had to use a pry bar to get it to open.

I am an incurable optimist. I believe in a benevolent universe. When I see horrible things occur, I am the person you find looking for the one hopeful angle that can arise out of the ashes of tragedy, injustice and pain. For most of my life, I have been good at finding hope were it seems that none exists. I am the one who finds good, even in the presence of evil.

Don’t get me wrong. It isn’t always instantaneous. In fact, it almost never is. Sometimes it takes a while. Quite a while. Back in February, I lost a job that I’d held for eight years. I was laid off – but it felt to be more of a political hit by the petty, insecure dictator that was my boss. It took me several months before I could think of him without a whole lot of expletives coming to mind. As a matter of fact, he still hasn’t made my five and probably never will – but I am now grateful for what an amazing teacher he turned out to be in my life.

If he hadn’t been exactly who he was, then I wouldn’t have been given the impetus to seize the opportunities that I am now experiencing. I would have been far too busy to write two books, make a movie, start a company, write a daily blog and spend my days doing the one thing that I love the most – writing, particularly about the paranormal. Sure those were always things I’d thought of doing, but I had a full-time job. Who had the time?

This man who is probably still bummed out that the door didn’t hit me in the butt on my way out – the one that I spent months despising – is the one who really presented me with the greatest opportunity I’ve had in more than eight years. When that corporate career door slammed shut behind me, something wonderful opened up.

I am at the stage where I recognize he did me a favor. It was eight miserable years in that company. I recognize that I am far better off where I am. My heart of hearts knows this, while my ego still smarts that I was beaten. I have hope, however, that the mere fact that I recognize him as my teacher is the first step in forgiveness. Not for him – but for me. Frankly, I don’t need that kind of hurt, anger or negative energy in my life.

We are at a stage in history right now where many people are experiencing the slamming of doors. I live in a county with 13% unemployment. Our state has over 10% unemployment and a huge budgetary short fall. I know so many people who have lost jobs and homes. Others have had to declare bankruptcy as their incomes have virtually disappeared. I know others whose family support systems and marriages are crumbling under the pressure. Many feel – and maybe rightly so – that one door after another is slamming in their face.

Those open doors may look different than you expect. They may be open just a tiny bit – barely noticeable. They may not contain what you think you want, but behind those doors may be exactly what you need. I say this not to be cruel, callous or trite. I say it because I believe it to be true. When you step aside from all of those closed doors and look around, you may find a doorway with your name above it. There is a tiny crack there – it is just open a sliver. But it is open, and it is waiting for you to find it.

Click here to listen to spooky audio halloween stories from dark fantasy and horror author, Budd Lewis.