The Opportunities We Missed
How many times did we get presented with an opportunity? And yet did not take it…
What is the last opportunity you missed?
The amount of times that opportunities came knocking on my door, is beyond my ability to count. So many times, we shoot ourselves in our foot. I am sure we think that there will always be a next time. But why do we not take those opportunities that present themselves to us, now?
“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” — Thomas A. Edison
Most if not all opportunities don’t take you down the easy route, they often take the form of the hard route. The route that is full of work, patients, dedication, and determination. The opportunity given, is not the end product but the beginning of the journey.
The Cambridge dictionary definition of opportunity goes as follows; an occasion or situation that makes it possible to do something that you want to do or have to do or the possibility of doing something.
People like all animals, look for the easy route whether tangible or intangible. Opportunity — are chances that we have to work for, to reap the rewards that we seek. As work is involved before the reward it becomes less inviting to take those opportunities.
But we should not wait for the perfect opportunities, ones with little work involved. We must remember that what comes easily, often goes away easily. The hard work is what finds and glues the opportunity to you.
“Opportunities are like sunrises, if you wait too long, you miss them.” — William Arthur Ward.
Opportunities tend to scare us; they ask us to take a chance. What an unnatural concept, why go from something you know and are comfortable with — to something you don’t know and probably uncomfortable with. We are less likely to take chances when we have something to lose than when we don’t. But it is precisely for that reason that stops us from achieving our dreams.
Why risk a lot for just a dream? What a fair and understandable question… what we want and who we are, is presented by what we do. Everything is relative to who you are if you are genuinely happy you have managed to achieve the dream of so many that have not. Our actions are what make us who we are and inspire others to become what they want to be.
We seldom know what we want and thus opportunities fly past us. There is no secret to finding those opportunities that give the success we seek. All you need is to open your eyes to see what you want and work hard for it. The opportunities will come to you and all you have to do is to take them.
“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” — Milton Berne
A final thought. The opportunities given to you are also opportunities that you give to others. The world constantly seeks to balance itself and we are part of that process. We should give back as much as we take.
