Does Opportunity Knock

"I held a moment in my hand, brilliant as a star, fragile as a flower, a tiny sliver of one hour. I dripped it carelessly, Ah! I didn't know, I held opportunity." -Hazel Lee

Well it happened to me. An opportunity came along and I missed it. Strange as it seems since I write about this stuff all of the time. You may not consider it a big deal but I do. My missed opportunity was to wish my sister a happy birthday three days ago.

Opportunity doesn't always come along as a Microsoft Outlook calendar reminder. That distinctive alert sound that is supposed to wake you from your slumber and get back to work.

Opportunity rarely comes knocking on your door like a Western Union Telegram. Even Western Union doesn't do that anymore.

Sometimes opportunity comes in the form of a passing white cloud above. You stop to take in the beauty of it against a blue sky. Another person stops to see what you are admiring, a conversation ensues and connection takes place.

Other times you step beyond doing what everyone else does at work. You take a chance taking on what others will not. A career blossoms where others thought barren ground existed.

Sometimes we miss the initial opportunity as it stood and waved a big sign. We turn the corner after seeing it down a side street we never take. That itch comes up in the back of our head; a little voice saying, "hey, wait a minute." At this point we can continue driving or turn around and go another direction.

You see it means you have to be aware and looking for opportunity. It means placing yourself in a position to cross paths with opportunity. It means being engaged in the world around you.

We may never get another television show called "Opportunity Knocks", but we can call our sister and send a belated birthday card. So Happy Birthday Pam! And don't forget to send in your vote for the Zaporozhian Cossacks, the dancers; not the people from the 'land beyond the rapids.’

Accidental Chocolate Bar

Percy Spencer

"Accidents, try to change them - it's impossible. The accidental reveals man." ~J. B. Priestley

There was a man many years ago that worked for Raytheon as an engineer. The year was 1945 and this former WWI Navy veteran by the name of Percy Spencer was already known for his knowledge of electronics.

One day Percy was 'playing' with a microwave-emitting magnetron which was a device used in radars. All of a sudden he started feeling something odd in his pants pockets. It was a sizzling sensation which turned out to be chocolate bar that was starting to melt.

Through his reasoning, Percy supposed that is was microwave radiation of the magnetron to blame. This led Percy down the path of discovery which eventually ended up with the invention of the microwave oven. That very same appliance all of us take for granted and probably couldn't imagine a world without. All because of an accidental encounter with a melted chocolate bar.

So many times each of us have an accidental encounter with opportunity. It might be an accidental encounter with another person that turns out to be the connection to a new job. Or maybe attending a gathering of people and accidentally encountering your future wife or husband. A hundred other accidental encounters in life that present opportunity for something great to happen in your life.

But two things have to happen when it comes to accidental encounters. Two things that are necessary for accidents to turn into opportunity.

The first is that you have to participate in life. In order for accidents to happen, you have to be out amongst others, among other things happening, and risking yourself to the fact that these accidents will happen. Sitting alone in your home, not attending that gathering, not taking a rafting trip; each of these may protect you from accidents. But each of them will keep you from experiencing life's opportunities.

And secondly, when the accident happens you need to acknowledge it and do something with it. There is an old saying that "when opportunity knocks, you have to get up and answer the door." When an accident occurs, there is an opportunity to change your life. You have to recognize it and answer the call. You have to open that door and take hold of it.

In the end, accidental events are really just opportunity for greatness to occur in your life. It may not seem like it at the time. Percy could have fussed and complained about ruining a pair of pants, failing to recognize the true significance. When accidents happen, look upon the event as an opportunity to turn it into something great. Take your life to a higher level accidentally and then realize it was not an accident at all. Rather it was an opportunity answered.

Pile Of Tires

"Opportunity is often difficult to recognize; we usually expect it to beckon us with beepers and billboards." ~William Arthur Ward

The picture just screams, "Dang it, another flat tire and nothing for miles. I guess I'll have to wait for someone to come along and help." Another missed opportunity that we failed to recognize.

Now granted, the purest would say it is a truck full of tires that couldn't be used in this situation. But your imagination can see what I am talking about. It is the idea of opportunity just yelling out at us and we are not in a position to hear it. Those types of opportunities rarely occur in life.

We normally have to position ourselves for opportunity and then mindfully keep our eyes open. But how do we position ourselves for any type of opportunity? We read more, we learn more and we interact more with life.

Opportunity does not come to your darkened doorstep and knock. Opportunity does not find you sitting in front of the television watching mindless shows. Opportunity does not find you, you encounter it.

By learning more, by trying new things, by interacting with people, the probability that opportunity will meet up with you is enormous. You still have to be aware and cognizant of it happening, but it will happen.

So get up off the bumper of your life and look around. The opportunity might be right behind you or just around the bend.

Painting Opportunity

"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.

Opportunity Flows

Opportunity abounds most every where in life. You may pass it daily and not recognize that it is there. It flows through businesses, personal lives and out on the street where you may least expect it. There are those opportunities that you find or those that are presented to you directly.

But things can or cannot happen relative to opportunity if you are not prepared. First, if you ready yourself by increasing your knowledge, knowledge of anything and everything, then you are prepared for opportunity that is presented to you. Additionally, you will be able to identify opportunity flowing eveywhere that otherwise you may not have seen.

You also have to be prepared for change. The type of change that is required to take hold of things that come your way. Many of us have a tendency to build walls of resistance to change. This prevents us from seeing or being able to grab hold of new possibilities. If you break down that wall of resistance, you will see a difference.

It is said that opportunity is like water. When it comes to containing water, it will always find a way, a path through which it can flow. If you dam it up, the water will rise and flow over the top. If a leak in the dam occurs, the water will find it and open it further. Opportunity is like this as well. It will flow to the path of least resistance and if you have a wall built up around you, the flow will occur to those that are open.

"It is better to be prepared for an opportunity and not have one than to have an opportunity and not be prepared." - Whitney M. Young

Opportunity Taken By Preparation

There is a story of the boy David, who had the courage to face the giant, Goliath. With everyone saying no one could defeat the giant Goliath, using his sling, David killed Goliath. Our own present day marketing promotions use this story in many ways to stir public interest in the next big thing or even the next big story. All in an attempt to get you, the consumer to watch or buy the show or item.

Over this college football bowl marathon, we were deluged by the use of this story in promoting a football game between Boise State University and the University of Oklahoma. Time upon time it was said how could this little team called Boise State hold up against the big and mighty Oklahoma Sooners? Describing it this way made it appear as though this small school was being given a chance to upset a powerful opponent. And that it would be disasterous for the mighty team to lose.

Boise State, a school with nearly 11,000 undergraduate students and a football budget of $4.5 million in expenses on revenues of $8.5 million defeated the University of Oklahoma. The larger school with an enrollment of roughly 18,000 undergraduates and a football program that spends about $13.5 million on revenues of almost $34 million. Information available through the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education.

Certainly the numbers would say it is a case of David versus Goliath. But maybe it is really one of a school embarking on a change years ago. One that set them on a path to success. A change that would help prepare them for this wonderful opportunity in a football game. This Boise State team did not 'all of a sudden' appear in a major college bowl.

During this particular season, they first appeared in the football ratings at #25 in week four of the season and reaching the #10 spot by week fourteen. A steady and gradual rise in the polls as they improved each week. Yet their movement towards success happened well before this football season ever started.

A sports writer I'm not, but what I am trying to illustrate is that it didn't "just happen" for this team. It took years of change and improvement and finally culminated in the ascent the team took this particular football season. It is a great story of making the changes necessary to take advantage of opportunity.

The same can be said for your own life. You can not simply wait for opportunity, you have to change and improve yourself. If you do not, you will not be prepared when the opportunity does come along. Start today, expect to have to persevere, expect setback. But do know that everything you do is preparing you for coming opportunity. Those moments will arrive, be ready for them.

The New Year

A new year is upon us and new reasons to lift yourself to a new level. Throughout the past year, I have spoken of making change now. To start a new path and not to wait around for the right opportunity. The sun has dawned on a new day and chapter in your life.

The poet Edith Lovejoy Pierce wrote, "We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day." On this the first day of the year, let us all take the opportunity to write a new future for those around us, for our community, for our children and for ourselves.

It all begins now, so take hold and experience a greater life. Have a happy and great new year.

Take Lifes Opportunity

Winslow Homer - Four Leaf Clover

"Sometimes, struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If we were to go through our life without any obstacles, we would be crippled. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. Give every opportunity a chance, leave no room for regrets." - Unknown

At various points in your life, someone will enter or pass through your life. They will prompt you to move and take charge before you believe that you are ready. What do you do? You take hold of that opportunity is exactly what you should do.

Too many times we sit around trying to plan out every aspect of what will happen next. All in an effort to plan the perfect experience, plan the timing to meet all expectations or simply over thinking the decisions that have to be made. You can certainly perform 'due diligience' in making decisions, but you can certainly over think things as well.

With all of this planning and thinking and 'gnashing of teeth', opportunity will probably pass you by. The timing will never seem completely right, the opportunity will never seem completely right and you will likely never be 100% sure of your decision. But take it and run with it...the feeling of not being quite prepared or it being a bad time will make you work all that much harder to succeed in that opportunity.

It is said that "many an opportunity is lost because a man is out looking for four-leaf clovers." Always continue your search through the clover, but also take opportunity when it is presented to you. Chances are you will find a four-leaf clover amid the new opportunity.