Opportunity – A Chance For Change

Opportunity – A Chance For Change

I love writing these articles, even though sometimes it is arduous work.  The gifts gained in the task are that of reflection, learning and understanding . . . but most of all, opportunity.  The opportunity to grow from this process has continued to bring a positive change to my life and, hopefully, others will find a similar positive influence in their day to day challenges as they read this work.

In reflecting on the subject of “Opportunity,” I have thought much of my past and of opportunities taken as well as those lost.  Some of the chances for change have come as a subtle knock to that door while others a definite loud pounding.  Too often we expect a loud announcement that something has arrived in order for us to pay attention.  I believe that those successful in life will take moments of stillness and strain to listen, understand, and reach out in times needed to be ready for that chance for change.

One of the points I wish to make is, “No opportunity taken that did not pan out as expected should be considered failure.”  I see myself as a “Jack of all trades, a master of none,” and really, is that so bad?  Yes, my life has been full of movement in many directions, but as once stated, “Moss can not grow on a moving stone.”  I continually choose to learn, and because of that my life directions have taken many turns.  When I was in my late twenties I went to school for two years and got a certificate in Commercial Advertising Photography, after which I worked for one and a half years as a lighting assistant to very successful photographers in the industry.  Learning through this experience I came to realized that I did not want to pursue my own professional career because of its required time away from family.  So, was my education a waste of time?  Definitely not, as I now see a different purpose for those skills to be used in something with much more significance.

If you are a person who blames luck, or lack of luck, on your circumstances, I wish for you to rethink your position.  Oprah Winfrey has said, “Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity.”  I myself do not believe in luck, but rather in hard work.  There is a great quote I’ve used frequently that states, “If it is to be it’s up to me.”  Taking responsibility for your own condition through your own efforts can be life changing in itself.

As I look into my past I can see many opportunities not taken.  One in particular happened when I was a naive and prideful twenty-year-old attending college in southeastern Idaho.  For the most part I was rather a poor student barely making it on the monthly $95 check received from the Canadian government due to my fathers’ death just over a year earlier.

I remember one sunny Saturday in the spring of the year I would graduate with an associate degree, Steve and I took a day trip to Island Park.  While at a roadside vista I met an elderly couple who became very intrigued with me and my story (I guess I’ve always had a story).  We spent time talking about their life without children and the good life they had lived despite that particular disappointment.  Near the end of the hour-long conversation, they offered me an opportunity that I “pridefully” declined.  They offered to pay for my education as long as I wanted to learn.  Oh, how young I was to not realize that by allowing them to do so I would have had the means to gain a bachelor, masters and possibly a doctorate degree if I so chose.  I have reflected on this decision many times since and have realized how much more I would have accomplished in life had I taken the golden keys they were handing to me.  Not only did I deny myself such a grand chance for change, I denied this generous and kind couple the opportunity to be a part of my life, as well as having a great impact in changing it.  To this day I cannot recall their faces as I close my eyes and think of how their lives could have played out in creating another part of their legacy through a young girl with possibility.  Hopefully, after this life, I will have the chance to meet them once again and thank them for their generosity and the lesson it has taught me.  However, in the same breath I will apologize for denying them the opportunity to do good.

I am currently starting a company, and in the process of doing so I will take their story with me as I require the time, finances and energy of many others to make it soar.  I will put pride aside and allow others the opportunity to be a part of something great, something that will help many journey through adversity with knowledge and skills learned to rise above it all.  And so, by learning from my own choices I will be ready for that “Chance for Change” called opportunity.

In Other’s Words:

“Doors of opportunity don’t open, they unlock; it is up to you to turn the knob.”

~Lily Taylor~