There is a door. Large, heavy, even foreboding. Impenetrable. Many have tried to enter; only a few have been able to master the door’s secrets. Yet the solution is simple: those who have passed through have each possessed the key.

The key looks neither unusual nor uncommon. It is simply a key. And opening the door is not complex – but it cannot happen without the key.

When someone desires to open the door, they have a task: they must copy the key. And so they go off to the locksmith, who provides many choices of keys. They vary in shape, size, color… some even have writing on them, “Do Not Duplicate.” In the end, no matter the appearance, they will all be used the same way: to open.

The look of the key doesn’t open the door. It’s the skill of the locksmith who crafts they key. All start out blank, an open possibility.

We cannot blame anyone else when we cannot open the door. Because our hands are the ones that shape our keys. Many paths lay open to us, and while the keys look different, there is only one door.

Generally, it is easier to shape our keys after someone else’s. There is no shame in that; others are quite happy to help. We can choose to do it all by ourselves – but it may take much longer.

We are the key.

And we are the door.