The Story of Johnno

Four Doors


The winds of change had been blowing through Johnno's mind for a while now yet not a word did he utter to anyone.

This is the story of Johnno and where those restless winds led him.

Johnno was good in fact Johnno was so good that the only place that he ever did anything bad was in his dreams. He would often wake up bathed in sweat as he had lived out bad in his unconscious world.

Even there bad for him was having two donuts when his carefully planned dietary intake instructed him to allow himself the luxury of only one every 13.5 days.

Johnno had been controlled and he liked it.

Johnno was good at taking instructions - he'd been led to believe that everything he was instructed to do via every source of information he could get his hands on was what he should do.

Johnno rarely thought for himself and was about as boring as a door handle ... things were about to change.

Just as door handles are a necessary mechanism, of course, to open doors Johnno was just about to open a door that he wished he hadn't and was glad he had in the very same breath.

Johnno had always done the right thing; he worked hard at school, married his childhood sweetheart, went to Uni and did the degree he was told to by his domineering (in his own best interests ha ha!) parents.

Found a job after getting good results and settled into the family gig, had two kids in the blink of an eye, bought a nice house. Now the kids were off to good schools and Johnno was happy.

No - Johnno wasn't happy; he was institutionalized in a cycle of good. A deathly boring routine that never changed - everyone was happy except him. Albeit his life read pretty much copy book from SuccessVille 101 there was something missing and it was big - behind the door big.

He was 36 when the door opened, not in his wildest imagination would he have dreamed of walking through it before. Mostly because he had no imagination - it had been sucked up and spat out at a young age under the crippling weight of expectation.

Strangely, as if he was born to do it, when the opportunity arose he did - in fact he strode through with such an air of confidence that he was shocked at the new Johnno! The door ... it was number 4 ... that number would change his life forever ...

As he stood with the most upright posture he could ever remember he felt like the past 36 years had been nothing more than show - the keep everyone else happy show - it had now come to an end and a new show had begun.

Fresh air - Johnno sucked it up into his lungs like a ravenous dog. Johnno felt like he was alive for the first time - he was breathing his own air not the air others told him too.

He stopped for an instant and thought back to the day he was confronted with the choice.

He had met a girl who invited him on a journey. This journey would not cost him anything and there were no strings attached other than she would present him with four doors to choose between. Behind each door was his future.

She had told him what lay behind door one. He remembered clearly her subdued tone as she described the future that lay ahead of him given the current trajectory of the book he had authored to date. She explained it wasn't hard to predict what the future would look like given that he had manufactured it himself.

He recalled being quite shocked at the speed with which he hungrily enquired about what lay behind door two. Similarly, as if taken back by his enthusiasm, the girl had explained that door two was a riskier door but just a short stretch - nothing too dramatic but even that would lead to a different future - marginally different.

He felt his heart rate quicken as the words escaped his mouth "and door three".

He seemed to sense a slight wicked smile as she described a future almost unrecognizable from the one he had created at his own hand and as if on cue his own wicked smile followed suit before he said without the slightest hesitation ... give me door four.

Her exacerbation was evident as she contemplated the conservative specimen standing before her. He thought to himself that most chose door one maybe door two at a push. She regained her composure and started to explain the level of risk involved with such a monumental deviation from his current chosen path.

She started out - "I must explain that with door's two three and four there are no guarantees that the future will be better than the current one. Based upon years of doing this I can tell you how your life will change.

Door two will most likely improve your current relationships - at least you have taken the initiative to do something". She hesitated and continued - "door three most likely your current infrastructure will go, only those who truly love you will hang around to see how things transpire.

Door four you give up everything - those around you will undoubtedly alienate you totally and label you a traitor to the cause".

Door four is the future you must walk alone. Door two and three they may travel with you a while but door four they most definitely will not. Door four is a lonely path until you find new travellers ... there is no guarantee they will be better just different because you will be forced to become different.

He stared into the future of door four. Scared to death yet hypnotically attracted to the potential. He knew there was no turning back as he slowly walked down the path ... the new path. As he did he felt a skip in his step akin to nothing he'd felt since he was six or so.

Which door would you take?