You’re allowed to close the doors that failed you. The doors that didn’t welcome you in and made your stay a little more comfortable. The doors that pulled you in promising to keep you warm only to make your stay cold and lonely. You’re allowed to close the doors that brought you pain and locked you in. You’re allowed to close the doors that didn’t set you free.

You’re allowed to close the doors that didn’t bring you closure or justice. The ones you opened a little longer in an attempt to be the bigger person or the more forgiving person. The doors that didn’t honor your presence. The doors that looked pretty and joyful from the outside but turned dark and gloomy the moment you stepped inside.

Because if you think of life in terms of doors and homes it will be so much easier to choose which ones to close and which ones to keep open. If you think of people as hosts, it will be easier to know which ones make you feel at home and which ones suffocate you but no matter what you do, close the doors that lead to nowhere. 

And while you’re at it, close the doors of the painful past, the sudden breakups, the unforeseen losses and all the ways you failed yourself. Close the doors that didn’t appreciate or celebrate you. The doors that made you feel restless and stuck. The doors that became too heavy to open and too dull to look at. The doors that started to make more sense when you left them behind.

Because the thing about closing doors is that it teaches you how to walk away, how to find new doors that could embrace you, how to walk into something and have the courage to walk out once you realize that you don’t belong there. You’re allowed to change your mind about the doors you once had the keys to and give the keys back as you exit gracefully. It’s time to leave behind the doors that ripped you out of your joy or your self-worth or your value and you’re allowed to keep trying every key until you open the door that feels right. The door that has your name on it. The door that feels like home.