When I think back to my childhood alter ego, “Chrissy”, I am slightly horrified to remember the scared kid who turned away at each opportunity to try new things. I quit sports when they become too challenging. I feared attempting new activities that I didn’t know how to do for fear of looking stupid in my endeavor to learn them. I have but a vague recollection of who that kid was, or where she went. But she couldn’t be farther from the adult me.
I am not entirely sure when that switch flipped from the anti risk-taker, but the older I got, the more confident I became. I realized rather than stressing out about what I might potentially suck at, I wanted to try everything - and fill my life with as many adventures and experiences as possible to find out what I actually might embrace and be good at; be passionate about. By the time I got to college, I conjured up the mental image of the “open door”.
Open doors to me represent opportunity. Opportunities represent possibilities. Possibilities represent freedom and constant learning. I love open doors.
I have often joked that I am a “start-up junkie”, but I think my true addiction is change. I crave a world full of doors to throw open. I crave the ability to learn, grow and develop. As such, I try to take advantage of every new person or moment put in front of me. Some of the most random of doors I have walked through have lead me to do charity work with royalty, serve as the best man in a famous hacker’s wedding, and have led to career experiences at a young age that I had no business doing. I view the changes my personal life is undergoing right now as yet another open door. I am in the process of meeting all kinds of new people I never would have met as a married woman. It’s a brave new world…but’s its all cool and full of possibility. I’m learning much about my self and this incredible group of new people I am being exposed to. And it’s all because I had the courage to put my hand on the door knob, and swing it wide open. In the 30+ years since I opened my first real door, I don’t know that I’ve regretted walking through one of them. Even the dumb choices have provided great learning moments.
The concept of walking through open doors provides me with a visual reminder to always keep learning, and always keep pushing myself to stay challenged. I’ve got reminders of this cue all around me…my cell phone case has a picture of an Italian door, I’ve got pictures I’ve collected around my home. It’s unnecessary, but a great motivator. I’ll never fear throwing a door open to find out what’s in store for me in the other side
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