The metaphorical door

Modern Family is probably the show I enjoy most after Friends.  It's has funny and witty characters.  Certainly some of the jokes that are told have been done before, notably on Friends.  The same can be said about the Big Bang theory.  What I like most about the show though is that there's often a moral to the stories that unfold on our TV sets.  The show makes you think and reflect on your own life.  Maybe more so in the earlier seasons than in the latest ones.  There was one quote that really stuck with me as I was watching a DVD of a past season a while back:

Jay: "I've always seen life like a series of doors. Sometimes you get to choose the door you go through, and sometimes you don't get that choice. But you still have to walk through it. So either you can go through kicking and screaming or walk through with your head held high."

There are some doors that are always shut, like Preston's picture above.  There are some that are open only on occasion, and others who remain open at all times.  There exist doorways without doors even.  And then of course, there are the metaphorical doors, the choices we have in life, and the ones life makes for us.  When Brett and I decided to get married, we had different doors in front of us about where to live.  We had choices.  We weighed the pros and the cons on all options before making a final choice.  We walked through a door of our choosing.  When Preston passed away, I was pushed through a door without being offered alternatives.  There was no door labeled "Preston lives if you walk through me".  No matter how hard I wanted to kick and scream, there was no way back, no other recourse.  So I let myself be inspired by who my son was while he was alive.  I allowed myself to be imbued by the grace some parents showed after losing a child.  Some created foundations to memorialize their children.  Others did random acts of kindness.  Some became advocates for other parents dealing with SIDS.  I created #SpreadHappinessForPreston.  It isn't much, but I hope it's made a difference so far.

Life isn't always roses and butterflies.  Life is hard.  So as Jay from Modern Family said so well, "walk through with your head held high" when you aren't given a choice of doors.  Make the most of what you are given in this life, even if it isn't much.  Appreciate what you have, make choices that lead to happiness and when life gets strenuous, take it a moment at a time as you learn to tame the lion that is the only door you can walk through.