Opportunity Knocks

Has opportunity knocked at your door and you didn’t answer?
Some of what happens to us is out of our control, but much of what happens comes out of us taking opportunities that come our way.

I heard a sermon one time and the pastor said “What good is it to wait at home hoping an employer would call you if you didn’t fill out an application?” That summed it up for me. How can you wait for something to happen to you when you didn’t take initiative to make anything happen?

“Seize the moment”.

“Take the opportunity”.

Both of those require action.

Neither say that you sit by passively waiting for something to happen to you. You are making the moment or opportunity happen. Seize and Take are verbs that say that an action on your part is required.

At the same time that you have the power to make something happen, you have the power to not make it happen. If you skip out on a chance to network by speaking with someone to connect with them, then you are actively missing out on an opportunity. Do you want to become an entrepreneur, but you are too scared to step out on faith and take risks? If you choose not to do something that will help you continue on the road of your destiny, then it is only your fault when things don’t go the way you envisioned them.

Often we fall victim to fear, anxiety, and doubt. So many of us have great ideas, dreams, or plans, but never fully execute them because we allow fear, anxiety, and doubt to creep in and take over. Then we are left with resentment, regret, and a life long relationship with “shoulda, coulda, woulda.” Some of us cop out passively when we don’t take advantage of an opportunity and say “I guess that wasn’t for me.” If you don’t take a chance at something, how do you know that it wasn’t the right opportunity for you?
Today’s Challenge:
Recognize that you are more in control of your destiny then you give yourself credit for. (For my religious folks that say to just pray on it, remember faith without works is dead.)
You are the only one holding you back. Acknowledge opportunities when they present themselves. Be honest with yourself and recognize what stops you from taking full advantage of opportunities that come your way?

**Remember the old adage about the drowning man and the boat. He encountered three people riding past him that offered him help from the rising waters as he sat and waited for opportunity to present himself. When he got to heaven and expressed his anger to God that he had drowned on that roof, God kindly reminded him that he sent him 3 boats and that he did not take any of the opportunities that were sent his way so he had no one to be angry with but himself!
How empowering is that to know that you have that much control over your life?