I Take Every Opportunity That Comes My Way

The Daily Affirmation That Can Change Your Life

A coworker once pointed out that during my life, I’ve basically taken every opportunity that came my way. This topic came up when he asked me how I found my current job, which I loved.

At the time, he hated his job but felt like he was stuck there and he couldn’t find a way out. He had several job interviews that went nowhere. He wasn’t willing to volunteer, and he had a small freelance computer business that didn’t pay the bills.

He’d been “stuck” in his current job for the last sixteen years. Because he was only willing to do the bare minimum amount of work — just enough to keep his job without getting fired — he never moved up or was invited to apply for a higher position.

I asked him about every opportunity I saw for him, including odd jobs, volunteer work to get a foot in the door, or even taking on a second job to get ahead on his bills. He wasn’t interested in anything. He was stuck.

My coworker was asking me about my life because he was in his early 40s. I had been in his position in my early 20s and had worked my way up into a supervisory position by 35.

I worked my way through college with a series of temporary jobs. During the school year, I worked as a Teacher’s Aide in the Anthropology department. I graded papers, taught classes, and held office hours to answer questions and help students study for exams.

During the summers, I worked as a seasonal Park Ranger Aide, cleaning bathrooms, emptying garbage, and collecting user fees.

Before my last semester of college, I accepted an internship at the Fort Lewis College Center for Southwest Studies in Durango, CO. I would be working in the museum, setting up displays, cleaning, and doing general paperwork.

That job paid nothing. I had $200 in my bank account. Eventually they decided to pay me with some extra grant money because I showed up every single day, ready to work.

Once I graduated college, I went back to my Park Aide job because I didn’t have any solid plans for the future. I decided I would save my money and make a decision once the summer was over.

That summer, the full time Park Naturalist quit his job, leaving an open position. Since I had several years of park experience and a college degree, I was eligible. I applied for the job, interviewed, and was offered the position. I said yes.

Seven years later, I met my husband. He was wanting to get back to his home state of Nevada, so we started looking around for jobs.

One day, while browsing online, he found a job for which I was qualified. I applied. Since it was located in an area I was not familiar with, we decided to visit. My interview was going to be over the phone, so I thought it would be a good idea to see the area first and meet the supervisors.

During the phone interview, the supervisor told me 200 people had qualified for this job and they chose to interview 13 of those. Right then I decided I had no chance of getting this job, so I put it out of my mind. Two days later I got a phone call with the job offer! We were moving to Nevada.

After holding that position for two and a half years, another job opened up and I applied for it. This job was one pay grade higher than my current position and it hadn’t been open for 22 years! I interviewed, was offered the position, and said yes. I’ve been doing this job for over six years now.

After the conversation with my coworker about these opportunities, I added “I take every opportunity that comes my way” to my morning affirmations. I had been learning about successful morning routines and had recently read a book called The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod.

Once I added this affirmation, I started actively finding and taking opportunities that came my way. Here are just a few of those opportunities:

• I started a small soap making business. When the local news channel contacted me asking if I was interested in being featured, I said yes, even though the thought made me very nervous. My soap company has been featured on their channel twice since March!
• I took an opportunity to volunteer for a local arts center that sells my soaps. They wanted community members to volunteer to keep their cafe open in exchange for taking a lower commission from my soap sales.
• I browse Craigslist every morning and saw a post asking for a social media tutor. I reached out and became a social media tutor for a local couple in their 70s.

According to Ed Mylett, there is a part of our brain called the Reticular Activating System (RAS). The RAS allows us to focus our attention on things that are important to us. For example, I never noticed dark blue Toyota pickups until my husband bought one. Now I see them everywhere!

It’s the same for opportunities. Once I focused on looking for them, I found many.

If you are interested in adding new opportunities to your life, I highly recommend adding this affirmation into your daily morning routine. Once you do, pay attention and you’ll start noticing the opportunities coming your way! It’s up to you to decide what opportunities are important to you and which ones will improve your life.