“Monday 5 Things” ….. Unlocked …..
July 7, 2025 by D. Paul Graham
Ever curious and always amused by the quirks of life, join D. Paul Graham each Monday for more M5T pondering.
“Locked” Photo by D. Paul Graham
On the wall of a roadside rest stop in Florida I read, “not all keys are made of metal, and not all locks are on doors.” I put that in my notes for another Monday 5 Things and it gave me good food for thought on the remainder of the drive home. It wasn’t until Indianapolis last week that this morning’s missive took shape.
Some gates exist only in our minds. And sometimes, the most impenetrable lock is simply a falsehood we’ve told ourselves too many times. Some prisons are self-imposed and have no bars. There comes a moment when you realize that the things keeping you bound were never locked at all. That sort of freedom rarely arrives with a bang. More often, it’s a still small voice whispering to you. A click. A release. A breath. It’s cause for celebration in our lives when we experience subtle breakouts, the keys found to a lock, and the invisible hinges that swing open when we finally stop trying so hard. This morning’s M5T honors the quiet revolutions, the shifts, the radical changes, and the sudden clarity we experience when we become unlocked.
1. UNLOCKED: WHEN YOU REALIZE THE DOOR WAS NEVER LOCKED IN THE FIRST PLACE. So many of our "No Entry" signs are self-imposed. We don’t knock. We don’t check. We simply assume, “this isn’t for me.” But what if the door handle was always within reach? What if we’ve been waiting on permission from a world that was actually waiting on us? Most of our boundaries in life are imagined and preconceived. Most of what holds us back is suggestion, not substance. We’ve all stood before what we sense to be an obstruction, absolutely convinced there’s a lock in place, when it’s really just a closed door with some dust on the knob. We just assume it won’t open. Or perhaps we encounter an illusory barrier. Like velvet ropes around something valuable, implied or actual. The rope is more suggestion than restriction. We don’t move it or climb over it. We just accept the barrier. In both cases, we stay seated in the waiting room of our own potential, only to discover the door’s unlocked, ajar, and entrance has been possible this whole time. Today, turn the handle, step over the barrier and find the room you’ve always belonged in. Test the narrative, push lightly. You may just find the resistance was only in your mind.
2. UNLOCKED: WHEN CURIOSITY OUTRUNS FEAR. Fear can protect but it builds walls and can imprison. Curiosity installs windows and can be your quiet rebellion. It peeks around corners and asks inconvenient questions. Curiosity doesn’t need certainty. It only needs wonder and possibility. Wonder is not the absence of caution, but the refusal to be ruled by it. The moment you choose wonder over worry, you find yourself leaning forward instead of leaning back. Let your curiosity drive. Relegate fear to the backseat or trunk, or better yet, don’t even offer fear a ride. Fear screams, “what if I fail?” Curiosity whispers, “but what if it goes right?” The moment your wonder outweighs your worry is the moment you become unstuck. Growth begins where hesitation ends with a curious mind that reaches for the next challenge and adventure.
3. UNLOCKED: WHEN FORGIVENESS PICKS THE LOCK OF THE PAST. Anger is a heavy key that we carry far too long, jamming it into doors that lead nowhere. Anger, guilt, and regret keep us orbiting in the past. But forgiveness allows us to live in the present and step into the future. It doesn't erase the scar, and does not excuse, but let’s us exhale. Forgiveness doesn’t forget the wound but releases you from a rut of emotions. It redirects you from going down the same road you’ve been walking, perhaps for years. Forgiveness is not for others who have wronged you. It’s for the peace and quiet for yourself that comes afterward. It’s the sound of locks opening, chains falling, and echoes fading. Forgiveness isn’t about forgetting. It’s unlocking yourself of past burdens and hurts. Forgiveness says: “I remember, but I will not relive” and allows you to step out of yesterday.
4. UNLOCKED: WHEN TRUTH BECOMES YOUR VOICE. There’s a moment when you stop editing yourself for the comfort of others. You say what needs to be said. Not louder. Just clearer. The more you do this, the more you realize the world doesn’t end. In fact, it gets a little more honest. Truth, spoken in love, doesn’t slam the door shut. It gently clicks with the sound of alignment. There’s a sacred kind of honesty that doesn’t shout or sting. It simply exists, peacefully and unapologetically. Speaking your truth isn’t a declaration of war. It’s the sound of rusted hinges giving way to light. Say it. Mean it. Then walk freely through without apology. We weren’t born to whisper. We were born to harmonize with the quiet courage of our convictions. Speaking your truth isn’t about volume, it’s about resonance. When you stop apologizing for being yourself, you begin to vibrate in tune with your very soul. Truth lets in air and light. When spoken with care, truth becomes less of a sword and more of a key that unlock a richer, fuller life.
5. UNLOCKED: WHEN LOVE JUST WALKS IN. The best kind of love doesn’t knock. It can sometimes drift in as you fall asleep on a massage table. (IYKYN). You don’t expect it, you can’t control it. You can’t summon it, but you can receive it. It just quietly shows up, unlocking emotions to your very core, and somehow, you’re better for it. Love opens you up in places you didn’t know were locked. No key, no code. Just the unexpected arrival of someone that reminds you what it feels like to be seen and heard. Love doesn’t need credentials. It unlocks windows with vistas that change the way you see the world. Love doesn’t need instructions. It simply appears, often when your doors are locked and closed tight, and your perspective is elsewhere. Love may come as a person, in a moment, or a silence that feels complete instead of empty. Love doesn’t knock. It returns. It is less about pursuit and more about presence. You don’t unlock love. It finds the open parts of you and rests there, like it always knew the way.
Here's to a week of unbolting the unnecessary, unlatching your heart, and working toward finding yourself, perhaps for the first time in your life, unlocked.
© 2025 D. Paul Graham, All Rights Reserved
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