Opportunities come in all kinds of different ways in life.
The ones that have the biggest meanings in our lives generally come in relationships. Husbands and wives, parents and children, friends and people we collect throughout our journeys through our time on earth are generally what occupy the most opportunities to fulfill our lives with enjoyment. Every person you meet, every relationship you decide to invest in is nothing more than an opportunity to live a richer and fuller life by spending time with people you choose to spend time with. These are also the opportunities that you take chances on in people. You may take time to get to know someone over the years, but then over time you drift apart and become nothing more than a “like” on a Facebook post or a text message on a birthday, and a “hey, how are you” when you see them at the grocery store. These personal opportunities also can bring a great amount of sadness and grief as you lose people in your life with things like death and illness, leaving you to reflect on the time you spent with them as your most prized asset.
People and relationships are the most meaningful opportunities that you will ever find in your life, and you might as well try all of them while you are still walking on earth.
Other opportunities come in the form of more tangible things like where you work, where you live, and the kind of activities you spend your time on. These are all opportunities to better yourself either for happiness or additional fulfillment in life. Some people crave money and success and will sacrifice time and relationships to achieve their goals. Others will sacrifice money and tangible things to spend more time doing what they enjoy. Regardless of which column you fall into, you are still taking advantage of unique opportunities and using your own motivations for how you live your life.
As I walk through every day of my life, it is filled with choices. How to create a balance of what is close and personal to me along with what motivates me. While some days are more fulling in either column than others at the spry young age of 41, I think my compass is pretty well dialed in on a direction I want to go and what sacrifices it requires to get there. It’s all a balance. Something I have written about for a long time, but knowing where you want to go and what it is going to take to get there when opportunities come at you requires a lot of discipline.
It is also very clear sometimes to see the confusion some people have over which opportunities drive their motivation. The ones most obvious are ones that are derived from anger. Whether it’s news, politics, opinions – even personal likes and dislikes, it is really starting to amaze me to see the lengths people will go to jump at an opportunity that really will never amount to anything for them. People are so quick to see an opportunity in our current world with no real benefit for them in the end and risk so much to accomplish so little.
There is no moral for this story, only an observation that if you are taking opportunities that don’t equate to personal relationships that you can keep the rest of your life or opportunities that allow you to enjoy your time on earth. You might want to rethink your motivations. Over the years, I have found myself doing this quite a bit, and it has helped to guide me on the path I am headed down.