Passionate Theme of the Day: Opportunities

“Freedom is not merely the opportunity to do as one pleases; neither is it merely the opportunity to choose between set alternatives. Freedom is, first of all, the chance to formulate the available choices, to argue over them—and then, the opportunity to choose.” ~ C. Wright Mills

“There is no security on this earth. Only opportunity.” ~Douglas Macarthur

“The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” ~Winston Churchill

Last night as I was watching my latest favorite addiction, So You Think You Can Dance, I got to thinking about opportunity. If you’ve never watched the show, it’s essentially American Idol for dancers. 

The cool thing about SYTYCD is that some of the top 20 finalists come from a long lineage of dancers and have formal dance training, but others are street dancers with zero formal training. The common denominator? They ALL have a passion for dance.

I was on the dance team in high school (PHS 90/91). I was also one of those dancers that had zero formal dance training. While in the beginning, I didn’t know an “attitude” from an “arabesque”, I did have a passion that could often outshine some of my formally trained teammates (a natural sense of rhythm didn’t hurt either). And I was given an opportunity to try out for the team, regardless of my training background.

That got me thinking about how this relates to people who are stuck in a rut. A rut that might sound like, “I’d really love to get another job, but I can’t find time to job hunt while I’m working full-time” or “I’d love to lose 50 lbs. but between getting the kids to school, working 9-5 and cooking dinner, there’s no time left for me” or how about, “All my single friends are married with children, I’ve got no single pals left to hang out with”.

My question to these folks is, how bad do you really want it? I’m not sure where we got the notion that life was always easy. Yes, it gets easier the more we begin to align ourselves with our passions and purpose, but nobody gets a free ride (unless you’re Paris or Nicole…but even P got knocked on her pretty little, cellulite-free-behind recently).

How many opportunities are you letting pass you by? If you wanted to meet new people in your city how might you do that? Yes, you’re going to have to step outside of your comfort zone a little. I recently met a great gal, we’ll call her Jill , because she reached out to a friend of mine on myspace.

Jill had that same issue; friends were all married off and had kids. She wanted to get out, explore the city, attend current cultural events and bike the local trails. So she hopped on myspace searched for locals with common interest listed and reached out to my friend. Did she feel uncomfortable about it at first? Sure she did. But she was more determined to find some new playmates than she was excited to sit at home one more Saturday night.

How about the person that wants to lose 50 lbs? Oprah just had Bob Greene on and they featured three women who had been severely obese (not just 50 lbs. overweight) and they decided they had a choice.

They all chose to accept that they had an opportunity to change their life (dramatically) and became passionate about pursuing their health and well being.  They decided to overcome those scary voices inside and take those first (sometimes slow) steps on the treadmill. They chose to accept the opportunity to choose healthier eating options.

And as far as “escaping cubicle nation” (thank you Pam Slim for your amazing contributions on this subject!), I ask again…how bad do you want it? It’s not often you hear of people hopping from A-Z overnight. Planning, research, reaching out to your network, following-up with contacts, updating your resume, brushing up on your interviewing skills – it all takes commitment.

But we ALL have the opportunity to BE and DO differently. I’m still in start-up mode here at PMP, and yes…I still hold down a day gig (a pretty cool one at that!). Be creative in your thinking. If you can’t financially or logistically make the leap from your day gig to your dream job, you do still have opportunities to take small, daily, inspired action steps toward realizing that dream.

Opportunities surround us. Open your eyes. Who do you know that could put you in touch with a potential new employer? What would it take to call up or send an e-mail to an acquaintance that could become new friend? What inspiration do you need to get up off the couch and take your body for a walk for 30 minutes each day (you don’t have to jump right into the gym or a killer work-out…baby steps create momentum folks).

After watching the beautiful and inspiring dancers on SYTYCD, I got off my couch, popped in my Hip Hop Abs DVD and got jiggy in my living room. What might inspire you to take some action today? Rome wasn’t built in a day. Great dancers, musicians, poets, writers, wise thinkers, spiritual leaders and savvy business types aren’t always born. Sometimes they are made. Through inspired action, determination, focus, commitment and openness to new opportunities.

What are you made of? What opportunities are right in front of your face that you’re missing because you’re too busy griping about what you don’t want/have? My challenge for you today is to open up, explore your opportunities and shift your focus…sometimes the beauty is in the journey, not only the destination.

Abundant opportunities abound,
Kam

ps...how’s the 14-day challenge commitments going? Feel free to update the original post with your status, I’d love to hear!