When Opportunity Knocks, Why Don’t We Answer?

I was reading one of my favorite authors recently and one of the characters said:

“If you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. If you don’t step forward, you’re always in the same place.” ― Nora Roberts

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve been reflecting on new and missed opportunities.  It got me thinking a bit about the opportunities in life and the way we respond to them.

Opportunities are all around us and come in all forms.  Each time we hit a crossroads, we can go right or left and our lives change.  Each person we meet can and will change our direction.  Remember “It’s a Wonderful Life”?  How George Bailey affected the people he met?  We do the same daily.  We just don’t recognize it.

Each day opportunity knocks a hundred times.  Why don’t we answer?

Many will say they’re busy with the everyday – the daily reports at work, coaching the staff, feeding a family, helping with homework or just spending a few minutes of down time for yourself.  If you’re too busy, how can you recognize any opportunities?

It’s a fact that we make time for what is important to us.  Whether it is the book we finish at 1:00 in the morning or the workout at the gym, we find time for what matters to us.  If you want to answer the opportunities life is giving us, we need to spend some time reaching for it.

Stay focused.  I have a magnet on my refrigerator.  It reads:

 “When one door of happiness closes, another one opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us….  – Helen Keller

It’s easy to dwell on the “good old days” when everything was better – at least through the rose colored glasses we tend to wear.  Focusing on the past doesn’t move you forward.  The past offers us the experience we need to achieve our opportunities and has shaped us into the person we are today.  Don’t set the past on an alter that we worship at each day.  Use the past – don’t let it use you.

Devote some time to your dreams and what you want out of life.  Very little comes to us without some effort on our part. If it’s worth having, it’s worth working towards.

“We often miss opportunity because it’s dressed in overalls and looks like work”  ― Thomas A. Edison

Keep a notebook of possibilities. Take 15 minutes each day – even 3 times a week.  Imagine your dream business – what it looks like – its success.  Find the opportunities hidden in your imagination and run with them. The trick is to do SOMETHING.  Will Rogers said, “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there”.

For my own part, I admit opportunities have slid by me many times.  I’ll never get them back.  Don’t let that happen to you. Opportunity is knocking.  Please answer.

Berni Hollinger helps companies solve problems through patterns. As a Professional Quilter and CFO / Controller, she sees things differently. As a highly experienced CFO, Controller, Accountant, and Financial Consultant, she has led financial departments for Fortune 100 companies increasing bottom line growth and compassionately leading and training employees and restructuring processes to maximize profitability in the publishing, printing, subscriptions / fulfillment, manufacturing and transportation sectors. She is a Professional Quilter, and Quilting Instructor, creating lasting memories through exclusive designs of one-of-a-kind memory quilts.

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