There's a secret password to everything in life...

All the signs said to stop... so we kept going.

This week, my friend Kip was visiting LA, so we did the things that all the tourists in LA do.

We wanted to hike to the top of the Hollywood sign.

Being a proper LA resident, I had no idea how to get there.

A few google searches led us to some vague directions so we hopped in the car and started our adventure.

As we approached what we thought was our destination we passed a sign, "No Hollywood Sign Access".

This is definitely the right direction. We can see the sign directly in front of us on the mountain.

We keep going.

Another sign, "No Access To Hollywood Sign."

We keep going.

We park the car and see a security guard at a gate.

We look at each other silently and know we can't turn back now.

We keep going.

When you act like you belong, most people believe you, so we walked by the security guard (who didn't say a word).

Now we're face to face with a huge gate with a keypad on it. Google didn't tell us the code.

I'm ready to turn back. At least we tried. There are plenty of other things to do in Hollywood.

But Kip approaches the gate. Skips the keypad and goes straight for the handle.

A simple turn of the handle and like a magic password, the gate is open. 

All we needed to do was try. The signs all turned out to be from frustrated residents trying to scare off tourists.

The gate - an illusion to make it feel like our destination was off limits.

I can't help but think of all the things in life that are behind that gate waiting for us to simply turn the handle.

We're scared because of the unknown, scared because someone said we might fail, scared because there are gates built in our mind around everything we want.

The secret password is JUST GO.

Even when it looks impossible.

Try.

But sometimes the gate really will be locked.

That's great.

Closed doors are just as important as open doors.

Some doors are closed so you can move on and get to the open door faster. Don't dwell on the failures or the roadblocks.

Keep going.

There's an unlocked gate waiting for you. 

Don't forget the password.

Just Go.


*Disclaimer: Don't be an idiot and trespass or do anything illegal.

 

 

Chris Ruggiero

Chris is the creator of Between Dreams and the main contributor to this site.

He is the producer and performer in his live theater experience. You can check that out at chrisruggiero.com

He hosts a podcast (chrisruggiero.com/podcast) and is the author of the book, JUST GO.

http://www.chrisruggiero.com
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