You just never really know when that door of opportunity might just open up for you, or do you? Imagine if you have an array of doors to choose from, bright turquoise, fiery red, energetic orange, sea blue or even a striking purple door- which would you choose? Which door will prove to be the door of opportunity that is just right for you?
In the sea of classmates that didn’t say very much, Dhivya Tharshini could have followed suit into a spiral of silence, but instead, she summoned up courage and pitched boldly to the employer, Andrea Zsapka, 100 Most Influential Linkedin Icons in Malaysia who was passionately sharing the brief of her brainchild- the Global Hybrid Summit for their class employer project.
In her excitement to contribute to the great cause of women empowerment, she graciously offered to share the services of ReStory- a young company that had just been born. This move birthed a great opportunity that she could never have imagined.
Little did she know that this door of opportunity would lead her to grab a spot as one of the coveted speakers for the Global Women Empowerment [GWE] Summit and be placed alongside great names like Freda Liu, Lead Producer, and Presenter BFM, Dr. Pauline Crawford, the Conversation Maker & CEO of Corporate Heart International and Dion Jensen, Inspirational Speaker and many others.
How often does a student get the chance to be part of a Global Summit that involves 100 over experts in 25 different countries over a period of 4 days, with more than 70 live broadcasts?
Her intention of serving others first, opened multiple doors, from being a moderator for the “Press Start” that featured young entrepreneurs, presenting the Morning News Segment with Roshan of Leaderonomics to a great feature interview by the infectious personality that is the Human Ethernet, Dr. Terri-Karelle-Reid from Jamaica.
Did she know that offering her services would lead to the opening of many more doors? I bet the idea never crossed her mind. Imagine, not only was she able to empower herself but the likes of other young entrepreneurs like Irfan, Rohan Kumar, and Villa, who she personally selected for her Press Start session.
That is the thing about these doors, you never know what lies behind them, nor the chain reactions that you can create, just by opening one door.
But that is indeed the beauty of opportunities, when they are sent out to the universe, everyone- yes, everyone has the opportunity to access them. The only stumbling block lies in our willingness or the tenacity to have that courage to unlock that door.
Some doors like Dhivya’s presented itself visibly, but at times those opportunities could be lurking around the corner, hidden to the naked eye.
For Bhagyachelvi and Sanggari, final year students at INTI, the story was quite different. Their tenacity to go beyond the employer project, swung open the door of opportunity at the most unexpected moment. From a volunteer tasked to help out speakers, they suddenly found themselves with a seat at the table with Gholamali, Alish, the Youngest Most Inspirational LinkedIn Icon for the “Youth in Action” panel.
But what if you chose the wrong door, will you miss out on a greater opportunity?
Let’s just say that Dhivya chose the striking purple door, while Bhagya and Sanggari choose the orange door, youth volunteers from around the world choose the red door to be part of a global movement to redefine the meaning of empowerment, while the remaining INTI students who did the employer project for the GWE summit chose the blue door. Which was the right choice?
Whether you choose the orange [optimistic], deep blue [dependable], striking purple [creative], or even the red [exciting], it doesn’t really matter.
“Every door has its own key”- An African Proverb
Every door unlocks specific paths meant just for you, at that part of your life. Rather than wrong choices, it is more of the delimiting beliefs we have in our minds that play on repeat as we sit and dwell over the other doors we “could have” chosen that pulls us down.
You have to remember, that every door in your path, unlocks lessons of life that can open your eyes to possibilities you never knew existed. But only you can decide the value you derive from it.
The question is what will you choose to see?
Cheryl is an educator, ed-tech enthusiast and partnership builder. She empowers individuals to shape personalised tech integrated programmes to socially engage their audiences. In the past, she has written for Essenze Malaysia and IN Penang and continues to play a pivotal role in the development of young critical minds via Lift as You Rise and as an educator at INTI. Follow her on LinkedIn.