Category Archives: Opportunity

“I will study and prepare myself, and someday my chance will come.”

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“I will study and prepare myself, and someday my chance will come.”

—Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States

Image from Unsplash by Brett Jordan

Perhaps no other event personifies today’s quote than the Olympic games. This summer over 10,000 athletes will compete in their chosen sport after spending the majority of their lives preparing for this moment.

When not physically practicing, they are also conditioning their minds and their indomitable spirits to take on the best in the world — which includes themselves.

EXERCISE:

In what ways have and are you taking the necessary steps to be prepared for life’s opportunities?

Who are the coaches and other people supporting you to grow and stretch to be your very best?

Opportunities multiply as they are seized

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“Opportunities multiply as they are seized.”

—Sun Tzu, ancient Chinese military general, strategist, philosopher

Image from Unsplash by Showboat Chowdhury

It is said that a rolling stone gathers no moss.

What if instead of a stone we considered opportunities to be tightly packed snowballs?

With winter approaching, many a child will be wishing for snow days with hopes of building a few Frosties.

How and in what ways do you capitalize on the momentum of your efforts?  How do you keep the ball rolling and keep your hot streaks going?

EXERCISE:

What opportunities are currently within your grasp?

Once you grab them, how do you keep things going to find other opportunities often inches away to seize?

Live as if you were living a second time

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“Live as if you were living a second time, and as though you had acted wrongly the first time.”

—Victor Frankl, late Jewish-Austrian holocaust survivor and psychiatrist

Image from Unsplash by Robert Ruggiero

For the weekend or occasional golfer, a mulligan is something many players covet.

It’s an opportunity, usually on both the front and back 9’s, to have a do-over on a whiff or missed hit that could sink a decent round. Even if it is never used by a player, they sure appreciate the fact that it’s there just in case.

We all experience many errant shots in life where things go out of bounds and miss their targets. These events often cascade into negative spirals of thinking, and we give up too soon.

EXERCISE:

Give yourself another chance to do better with your next shot. With this personal permission and practice, don’t be surprised if you start shooting some of the best scores of your life.

Do not ask what it is. Let us go experience it

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“Do not ask what it is. Let us go experience it.”

—T.S. Elliot, one of the 20th century’s major poets

Image from Unsplash by Maria Oswalt

I tend to be a home body — I’m not into large events or running around to check things off my bucket list.

I do, however, go outside this comfort zone for the people closest to me — especially my children and grandchildren.

My daughter is constantly creating opportunities for her kids to experience new things. Being invited along for the ride, to watch the delight of our little ones, is definitely not to be missed!

EXERCISE:

How often do your find yourself living in your cave of comfort?

Where would FOMO be a good thing to get you off your seat and into the world you’ve been missing?

We live in an ocean of opportunity

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“We live in an ocean of opportunity. Being mindful of which waves to take will give you the ride of your life.”

—Author Unknown

Image from Unsplash by Jeremy Bishop

According to the U.S. Geologic Survey, there are over 332 million cubic miles of water on our planet.

Of this vast volume of water, NOAA’s National Geophysical Data Center estimates that 321 million cubic miles are in our oceans.

Waves on water are caused primarily by wind. If you’ve ever been on a boat or at the beach you’ve surely seen and felt their power.

EXERCISE:

What winds of change have you experienced over the past several years?

How have you embraced the abundance of opportunities all around you?

What support structures are available to help you travel toward new horizons?

Don’t worry if you’re making waves just by being yourself.

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“Don’t worry if you’re making waves just by being yourself. The moon does it all the time.”

—Scott Stabile, Inspirational self-help writer and speaker

Image from Unsplash by San Sahil

Did you know that the moon only shows us one of its sides? Not until we sent spacecraft and men to orbit our neighbor did we see its other side.

Perhaps this is wise council for each of us as well. Being our true selves and showing the world who we are with all our impact craters may not be such a bad thing.

The moon has been tugging on us for billions of years. We were so fascinated by its pull we decided to visit it in the 60’s and early 70’s, and plan to return in the coming years.

EXERCISE:

How can living true to your nature—even if it makes a few waves—attract the people and opportunities you most desire?

When you receive criticism take a moment to pause

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When you receive criticism take a moment to pause. Let this time be a kind of speed bump to slow down and “try on” what is being said.

—Calm App Reflection

Image from Unsplash by Brett Jordan

No one likes to be criticized and judged. We like the way we are doing our lives and anyone who disapproves is clearly wrong!

Oops! What just happened? How can it be that we, too, may be just as critical of others, and they don’t care for it very much either?

What if instead of blocking this feedback and defending our positions, we simply paused to consider their perspective?

What would happen if we actually looked for the potential value in what was being said?

How might new ways of looking at ourselves create new opportunities for growth and self-improvement?

EXERCISE:

How would slowing down for the seemingly critical speed bumps offered by others make your travel through life smoother?

How might the ideas that are shared actually fit if you “try them on” for size?

If you still find them too tight, loose, itchy, or the wrong color, you can take them off.

We can revisit the past, be in the present, and even venture into the future

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We can revisit the past, be in the present, and even venture into the future with our miraculous minds.

—Calm App Reflection

James Webb Telescope Image from NASA.com

The James Webb telescope is a miraculous piece of technology that cost ten billion dollars and took over 25 years to create. It is 100 times more powerful than the Hubble telescope, which has transformed our knowledge and understanding of the universe for decades.

These devices use various frequencies of light to examine the past, based on the distance of diverse objects. With the finite speed of light being 186,000 miles per second, we can view the moon 1.3 seconds ago, our sun 8 minutes ago, and even distant galaxies over 13.5 billion years ago. With our awareness of our ever expanding and accelerating universe, we can also use computer simulations to look way into the future.

EXERCISE:

What value have you gained through lessons from the past?

What moments are you currently experiencing that you don’t want to miss?

What potential opportunities do you see for yourself and others as the future unfolds?

Crisis is an unexpected jarring of our ways that brings us into contact with our attendant spirit

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“Crisis is an unexpected jarring of our ways that brings us into contact with our attendant spirit.”

—Mark Nepo, author of The Book of Awakening

How have you and the world around you been jarred in unexpected ways these past few years?

How have these various events been both crises and opportunities at the same time?

Where and how have you been awakened and opened to your attendant spirit? How and in what ways can you move forward given this source of strength at your disposal?

EXERCISE:

How might you offer or seek assistance to and from others in your various communities?

How can we better tap into our collective attendant spirits to recover our footing and balance?

How can I begin anything new with all of my yesterday in me

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“How can I begin anything new with all of my yesterday in me?”

—Leonard Cohen, late Canadian singer-songwriter, poet, and novelist

Image from Unsplash by Jaakko Kemppainen

How easy is it for you to begin each day with a clean slate? How often do you feel that mornings are filled with an abundance of opportunities and possibilities?

Most of us tend to hold on and drag around yesterdays filled with our worries and fears, or perhaps pine for the “good old days” when life seemed much better.

Cohen’s quote asks us to put a period at the end of our days with a “what is done is done” perspective.  Without letting go of the past how can we free our hands and hearts to grasp for today and our tomorrows?

EXERCISE:

With Spring around the corner, how and what can you do to clear and organize your yesterdays to more enthusiastically step into each new day?