An Opportunity

Grasping on an opportunity but is it always viable to do so?

We define opportunity as a positive chance to make changes in our lives or plans. What drives opportunity is the belief in taking the leap of faith. Believing in that new change or something extraordinary, helps us to embrace the opportunity. It is believed that every opportunity is golden and we should always make a consistent effort to ensure that we live up to our perceived expectations and outcomes of the opportunity.

Opportunism has a twist in everything. Many fear that an opportunity may not actually be an opportunity in the first place. Well, the opinion defers. Somehow like always, by being too pessimistic, we often regard or disregard in fact, all opportunities in life because we have already created a mental block or barrier which tells us that whatever we do, may have a negative effect on us.

But the opinion still stands that in every change lies a new gateway of opportunity. Well, even though if an opportunity's expectation does not meet its perceived standards, as always new opportunities often bring new changes to one's life. So as such, even if that opportunity expectation does not come true, new changes will take place, thus stimulating new opportunities in the process. Like what my friend pointed out "If you always do what you always did, you'll always get what you always got" (Jerome, 2010).

So, there's no need to fear a perceived opportunity but in fact, we should embrace new opportunities because they tend to create new changes in our lives, which opens NEW DOORS to other possible outcomes. For instance, take a guy who always drive to and from work, the opportunity or probability rate of meeting an old friend, is close to zero. Whereas, ask this guy who drives, to take public transport, it creates new opportunities and an increased probability of meeting this old friend.

So when life gives you an opportunity, you should take a step back and think. Don't think about the possible rewards and achievements, because these sort of thinking are often short-term considerations. But, one should look at the holistic pictorial view, and identify the possible future outcomes, rewards, impacts and influences that one can reap from.

One element that one must possess, is the presence of optimism. It is only through positive thinking that we can fully reap the benefits of an opportunity. Common resistances include resistances to change and poor adaptiveness to new environmental changes. One may become too "stuck-in-time" that trying to move on, may seem to be taking a big risk leap. Such behavior would indicate that this person's personality is often easily-contented and lack of forward vision.

The gifts, hopes and wishes that we yield, are always present, but dwelling on the past and holding too dearly on the present, would essentially cause one to forgo the greater happiness in life. Such illustration is known as the opportunity cost.

So, have you embraced that opportunity in life yet?

"If you always do what you always did, you’ll always get what you always got " - Jerome Wei Jie (2010)