Say Yes to Opportunity

Benjamin Franklin once said, "To succeed, jump as quickly at opportunities as you do at conclusions."

We are faced with new circumstances every day and when they arise we have a choice to make--do we want that circumstance to become a difficulty in our life or an opportunity for the better.

Many of us don't take advantage of opportunities in our everyday lives because we are most of the time, either too comfortable or too afraid. Paul Coelho, In Like the Flowing River, wrote "Sometimes, we are so attached to our way of life, that we turn down a wonderful opportunity simply because we don't know what to do with it."

Opportunities are often seen as a struggle to us and that's why we choose not to take the time to pursue them. OR sometimes we just simply don't recognize them as an opportunity.

It is important to wake up every day striving for new chances to take. This is what keeps life worth living. I've learned that fear is one of the main obstacles we place in our path that blinds us from the many great things life has to offer us. This fear we create in our minds keeps us caged up inside. We let it control the choices we make when it comes to work, relationships, family, health, and finances and countless other aspects in life.

What we have to realize is that there lies so much growth and possibility on the other side of fear and struggle. Once you change your perception about what you are afraid of or what is seen as difficult, you will begin to overcome these things and see them as opportunity.

Feeling afraid or feeling bad for ourselves when circumstances arise leaves no room for positive growth within. However, once we choose to create and/or recognize an opportunity is when we truly begin to embrace all that life has to offer.

Often we talk about all the goals and aspirations we desire to achieve, but we don't live in parallel to those dreams. We don't take the chances necessary to achieve those dreams we have. Instead, we see all the opportunity set in front of us as a misfortune. We talk the talk, but don't walk the walk.

Once we begin to take chances and try new things is when we will start to notice all the great possibilities we've been missing out on this whole time we've been 'alive'.

Opportunity is defined by Merriam-Webster as: an amount of time or a situation in which something can be done. Ultimately, our lives are defined by all opportunity, even the ones we don't take advantage of.

You never get the same moment twice in life. Every day is a new day, a new day to be excited about all the great moments that are yet to come. Try to see the good in every situation because once you do I promise it will make every second worthwhile.

So when opportunity knocks, answer --because old ways won't open new doors.