Groundhog Day

"Not knowing when the dawn will come, I open every door." Emily Dickinson

Today is February 2, Groundhog Day. Not a big holiday in southern California where I live. As a child living in Pennsylvania, it was quite significant. Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania is home of Punxsutawney Phil. Perhaps you know of Groundhog Day because of the movie by the same name. If not, I'll enlighten you. Phil emerges from his burrow. If he sees his shadow, he'll go back inside and winter will last for six more weeks. If he doesn't see his shadow, winter will soon be over. I endured 24 consecutive winters living in Pennsylvania, and it seems to me there was always six more weeks of nasty weather, shadow or not. But it's a fun tradition and since folks in that part of the country are presently in the middle of a storm, maybe it will give them some hope. Hope is almost always a good thing.

I don't need to, and most likely shouldn't, walk through every door in life. Certain situations and opportunities present themselves, and it's up to me to use my judgment, intuition and common sense to decide whether I'll take the opportunity. But since I never know, it's not a bad idea to open the door. Take a few steps out and assess the situation. I can always walk back into my burrow and settle back down. Or maybe I will decide to keep on walking and see where that road leads. I think it's when we stop opening the doors that we begin to stagnate. I hope I'll never let that happen to me.

Susan