Sliding Doors Moments

I love the 90s romcom, Sliding Doors, staring Gwyneth Paltrow and John Hannah. But I love the idea even more.

If you haven’t seen it, I’ll simply say that the plot follows two story-lines, one in which our central character makes the train she’s meant to catch, and one in which she doesn’t.

Suffice to say, this seemingly insignificant event is very significantly, and the two versions of her life are wildly different depending on whether the caught or missed the  train.

Now… I’m not trying to evoke anxiety every time you’re near a train station or make you fret yourself into indecision.

There’s no need to overthink everything even more than you do Joanna.

But it’s interesting to think about!

Brene Brown talks about these kind of ‘sliding doors moments’, reminding us that they’re a regular feature in our every day lives… it’s just that we often don’t notice them. We’re too busy looking at our phones. Even when we do notice that we’re in one of these moments, sometimes thoughts and feelings get the better of us, leading us to act (or not) in a way which doesn’t fit with our values and beliefs.

These little moments are the times when we have a choice;

to speak up, or remain silent;

to offer help, or look away;

to try something new, or do as you’ve always done;

to look at your partner when they speak, or your phone.

And they do have consequences, these little moments. We just don’t always know what they are.

So whilst we don’t always have control over these moments – i.e. sometimes we miss the train – there’s a whole load of them that we can affect.

We can live out the better version of our lives, simply by being more conscious of it.