My Sliding Door Moment

Have you ever faced a decision that has the opportunity to change your life? A good friend of mine calls such occasions sliding door moments. And even though the terminology is traced to a 1998 movie starring Gwyneth Paltrow, the effect of your own sliding door moment will no doubt impact your outlook on life for years.

In the movie, Gwyneth catches a train by mere seconds. The sliding doors close and she’s whisked home to find her husband cheating on her. In an alternate parallel universe, however, the sliding doors close before Gwyneth can board. She goes on with life, never discovering the lie that’s right under her nose.

Poor, poor Gwyneth.

The truth is we all face those sliding door moments in our lives. Taking a new job, blurting out a statement you’re dying to say, or, conversely, keeping it in. Do you catch the train that will change your life? Or should you stay put and continue on the comfortable path?

The same good friend that opened my eyes to the power of the sliding door moment is a traveler, like me, that takes to the skies every four days to effect change on college campuses across the nation. To her, we get a sliding door moment every time we board a new plane. That flying metal tube practically hands us the ticket to a new adventure, and it’s up to us to decide whether our lives will change.

But is that really possible? And will my transformation, if I decide to transform, be a simple adjustment or a personal revolution? This is what's on my mind as I watch the doors open, sitting at gate C27 in the DFW airport.

Here’s what I do know: I’m getting on the train.

I want to know about your own sliding door moment. Did you walk confidently through the doors or watch them close? And have you faced consequences since?