The Knock

It was evening a usual quiet hour. Sarah was sitting near the window when dusk painted long shadows all over her living room and otherwise could not be heard there but with a gentle humming, a sound that represented the buzzing of the world. She had become quite accustomed to the stillness, the silence that she felt had surrounded her life. Days become weeks, and weeks turn into months each day became just one of a thousand others without any marked difference.

Life was not always like this for her. There was a point in her life when Sarah was full of dreams and plans. She was such a passionate and enthusiastic individual about her career, relationships, and the future that once seemed so vibrant. In due course, disappointment after disappointment wore her down. Rejections had become a part of her both in professional and private life. Finally, she withdrew into her world. She gave up, believing that the door to opportunity had been forever sealed.

As she sat there thinking about all that was happening in her life, knocking broke the silence: “Knock, knock, knock”

The knocks were firm, and deliberate, as if they carried a message. Sarah was startled and looked toward the door. It wasn't the first time she had heard a knock, but this time something was different. She hesitated, whether she should open it or not. Her instinct was to ignore it, as she had done countless times before; but somehow deep inside urged her to respond.

She sighed, stood up, and walked to the door, placing her hand on the handle. For a moment, she stood there, with the weight of her hesitation bearing down. What if this was another disappointment? Another rejection? Something, however, told her that this knock was not about who stood on the other side of the door but rather about what she'd let in.

Finally, she opened the door

As if by magic, no one was waiting on the other side. Only a simple wooden box stood there, a little worn and with the scent of something at work inside it. No note to explain, nothing to go on but the box itself. She picked it up by those again use-worn hands. It was not heavy, yet its weight went somehow beyond comprehension.

She brought it inside, laid it on her kitchen table, and sat, looking at it. What was it? Why did they leave it for her? She slowly opened the lid, revealing a folded piece of paper and a small key. The paper itself was yellowed with age and the writing faded but still legible. It said nothing more than:

Sometimes you have to open the door for yourself. The key to everything is already in your hands.

Sarah read the words again and again. Which door? Which key? Her certainty faltered before she gazed at the little rusty key, lying there on the floor of the box. Then, all at once, something shifted in her mind. She would have thought that even such a faint spark of hope had been extinguished so very long ago, yet in a single moment, it glowed once more. Though she had no idea what that door would open, she understood the message. That story was never about a door and its key; it was the message to her. She realized long enough that she had been waiting for someone or something to change her life, but she held the key in her pocket all along.

That was the night when Sarah decided. She would stop waiting for the perfect moment, the perfect opportunity, or the perfect circumstances. In one little step at a time, she would be master of her destiny again.

The next morning, Sarah woke up early. She dusted off her resume, made a list of companies she admired, and began applying for jobs she once thought were out of reach. She signed up for an online course in a new field she had always been curious about but never dared to explore. She reconnected with old friends by reaching out to the people she had lost touch with during her period of isolation.

Days became weeks, and weeks became months. This pace was very slow, but Sarah could feel that something in her life was changing. There were still setbacks and rejections but this time, Sarah wasn't defined by it. Every time she experienced an obstacle, she reminded herself of the knock, the box, and the key. She remembered she could open the doors of her life.

Months later, one afternoon, Sarah received a phone call from one of her dream companies. They called to offer her a job position that would be way beyond what she could imagine. She put down the phone with a heart-thumping at its beating rhythm.

At that moment, she knew that the knock on her door was from the universe, reminding her of her strength. It wasn't a wait for an opportunity to find her but creating it for herself. And now, while standing in her living room, she smiled knowing that all the doors of her life were finally open and it was she who had found the key.