"All great work is preparing yourself for the accident to happen." ~Sidney Lumet
The story is all too common, you train and train, waiting for your moment to succeed in one of a thousand different careers. You search and knock on doors, trying to get your foot inside. Nothing becomes a reality, so while the pursuit of the dream continues, you wait on tables, sell shoes or deliver pizza.
There is story similar to so many of us. Her name was Mardee Hoff, a young model in pursuit of an acting career. Time and again she tried but failed to get any auditions for acting work. So she performed many odd jobs, doing what she could to keep herself positioned.
One day she was called to model for a magazine. Someone was needed to pose for a cover painting on the Saturday Evening Post. Famed artist Norman Rockwell did many of the covers during this time period. So the job was deemed prestigous and it helped pay the rent, which was more important.
She didn't know what the pose was going to be. But again it was modeling and that was something she knew how to do. So pose for the picture, earn a paycheck and keep pursuing the acting. As luck would have it, the drawing was of a Hollywood starlet being surrounded by 1930s papparazzi.
Opportunity was close at hand, much closer then she may have expected. When the cover appeared on newsstands around the country, a door was about to open for Mardee. The phone began to ring with calls from movie companies. Eventually she came under contract with 20th Century Fox Studio.
The many failed attempts to get an audition had not been a waste. The odd jobs and modeling had not been a waste. All were preparing her for one audition she didn't fully realize was the one. The one that would place her next to a door of opportunity. She realized her dream of becoming an actress. She placed herself in alignment with opportunity that came along when she least expected it.
Opportunity holds the same door open for you. But you have to place yourself near it. You meet up with it along your path. If you do nothing, it will be rare that you meet up with opportunity. Keep moving forward, keep trying new things, keep pursuing your dream. Eventually you will meet up with opportunity and the door to your dream will open wide.
The picture of your life will get painted in an unexpected way. Life will open up before you and it will be opportunity that holds the key to that door. Put your self near the door, prepare to meet up with it and walk through.
