Sometimes opportunity will come knocking on your door. Like an unexpected visitor in the early hours of the morning, it will politely knock for a respectable amount of time and then pause hoping you heard it. Then it will knock a little harder, incessantly ring the door bell and then once again desist. At which point you relax, go back to sleep and think the moment has passed. Then like a raging thunderstorm, it rattles the walls, violently shatters the door and “ROARS!”
You’d think that such a performance would guarantee access but no, not always, unexpected visitors can be ignored. Often we just sit in the room staring at the shattered door wondering what happened; wondering whether it was all a dream. All the while opportunity hovers above us – watching and waiting, watching and waiting – before it finally sighs and gently floats out of the room.
A good host will invite her guest in and provide them with a comfortable place to sit. She will offer her guest some refreshments and attention. A good host is kind, patient and understanding. She will engage her guest in meaningful conversation revealing the reason for the visit. She’ll make her feel welcome and eager to return. Like a visitor, opportunity needs to be invited in. It needs to be nourished and refreshed and most importantly, it needs communication. But if it is ignored, then like most visitors, it will just leave. And if treated too badly it will never return.
Like love and possibly UFO’s (who knows), opportunity manifests itself to individuals in its own way. Some people see it and some people don’t; some believe it while others rationalise it away; it doesn’t mean it’s not there. No ones experience is the same, all the challenges and triumphs are different. It makes life spicy and interesting. If this is the case, then why do we insist on only embarking on journeys that have been tried and tested? Why do we turn opportunity away?
I guess sometimes we are just frozen in fear. On the one hand, we are afraid that the opportunity will be great and lead to us realising our dreams. On the other hand, we are afraid the opportunity may defeat us and leave our dreams in ruins. We’re afraid to win and we’re afraid to lose, but mostly we’re just afraid. It’s okay to be afraid but you can’t stop moving.
All visitors are unique; some are funny, nourishing and uplifting; while others are sour, negative and destructive. Their stay can be a blissful yet fleeting visit reminding you life’s special gifts or a drawn out visit that teach you about the power of saying: “No”.
Standing frozen in fear cannot help you know how to handle this visitor called opportunity.
So, the next time opportunity knocks on your door, in whatever form it chooses to take, at whatever time it chooses to arrive; don’t be frozen in fear. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Simply open the door, smile and say:
“Hello there my friend … Welcome home”.