WOW Word-Of-the-Week #341: Opportunity

February 15, 2011 by  

Opportunity – a favorable or advantageous circumstance or combination of circumstances.

Are you able to view a problem as an opportunities? Do you see the glass as half empty or half full?

Last week’s WOW generated lots of positive feedback. Bob, whom I met in Cabo San Lucas in 2002, had this to say, “My favorite definition of luck is that luck is preparedness meeting opportunity. My friend Mark Porter, a professional poker player, once told me, ‘You can’t count on luck. You must try to align yourself with the universal flow of random odds.'”

Cabo San Lucas

“I DO believe that what goes around comes around, that you reap what you sow, that if you do good things that good things happen to you, that what you think about is what shows up in your life, that we need to spend less time thinking about what we don’t want in our life and more time thinking about what we do want, and that you can change your thinking and change your life in an instant.”

“The ‘luckiest thing’ that ever happened to me was meeting my future wife in the middle of nowhere in a jungle on a beach, not speaking the same language and from very different cultures, hooking up together, and staying happily married since then.”

“I also don’t believe in accidents. Everything happens to you for a reason. To struggle against the moment is to struggle against the Universe. Your job is to deal with your emotional reaction, and with as much clarity as you can muster, observe what is happening to you and figure out the lesson you are supposed to be learning.”

“If you can train yourself to perceive the seeming ‘problems’ and ‘challenges’ you are experiencing as ‘opportunities’ to learn something new or gain an insight, you will make yourself ‘failsafe.’ Our greatest enemies are our greatest teachers. I think Casteneda said that. ‘Enemies’ can be difficult experiences as well as people. But difficult times can lead to a lot of personal growth. If you ‘prepare’ yourself with this attitude, you will encounter plenty of ‘opportunities’ that you can convert to ‘LUCK.'”

I totally agree! This week focus on how many favorable situations you find yourself in. Can you do as Bob and figure out what the lesson is that you are supposed to be learning? Do you think as we mature and have more experiences that we are better able to see the opportunity?

Reader Responses

“The most difficult aspect of turning problems into opportunities is getting out of ourselves. We tend to get caught up in why something bad is happening to ME right now instead of looking for the silver lining in the cloud. But that is human nature. We claim that we are good people and bad things should not happen to us. Many times when caught up in that moment we don’t step back to look at the problem or situation. When we do, and take our time to analyze what it is we are going through, it is then we figure out what is going on. Sometimes, the message or opportunity does not present itself until later. Usually that is the time we are prepared to take advantage of the opportunity. It really is difficult to have the perspective needed when we remain inside the picture frame and can’t see. This is something we need to learn. Some of us, but unfortunately many of us do not. Thank you, Susan. Keep up the great work. – “Warrior” Joe

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