Opportunity – An omnipresent entity.

A sickly widow had two sons on whom she relied for financial support.

One son sold umbrellas. The first thing the mother did every morning was to look out to see if the sun was shining or if it looked like it was going to rain. If it was cloudy, her spirits were good because there was a chance that it might rain and her son would sell some umbrellas. But if the sun was shining, she was miserable all day because no umbrellas would be sold.

The widow’s other son sold fans. Every morning that it looked like rain, she would get depressed because without the sun’s heat, no one was likely to buy fans.

No matter what the weather was, the widow had something to fret about.

While commiserating with a friend one day, the friend remarked, “Perk up. You’ve got it made. If the sun is shining, people will buy fans; if it rains, they’ll buy umbrellas. All you have to do is change your attitude. You can’t lose.”

When that simple thought sank in, the widow lived happily ever after.

This small story by Fr. Brian Cavanaugh, tells us that its all in the attitude, how you look at it, even the worst possible situation could be turned into an opportunity. Opportunity is never available in open for everyone to see, but it is there hidden in every puzzle that life throws at us. We just need to look harder on that puzzle and if one has the right attitude he will find that the image of opportunity become clearer and clearer and soon he will just see the opportunity in that puzzle and the jigsaw would be solved.

British author Max Gunther wrote a book called “The Luck Factor”, in which he speculated on why some people are luckier than others. He discovered that those who were lucky more often tried things more frequently than those who did not, thus increasing their success. He theorised that the more times you cast your net in the water, the better your chance of catching a fish.

Luck is never by chance, it’s always by trial. Though it’s easier to attribute it to chance; because that is lot more convenient as it might justify your inaction or less action. You may chose anyone whom you trust was luckier and then run his life history you will certainly find action before luck coming in and giving him success.

Giving a sob story, falling in self-pity trap or rebellion against your handicaps gets you nowhere. One must be adventurous and daring to accept oneself as a bundle of possibilities and undertake the most interesting game in the world – making the most of one’s best.

Every minute starts an hour and every minute is a new opportunity. Each time the clock ticks you have a chance to start over, to say, do, think or feel something in such a way that you and the world are better for it.

David Ross, Indiana farm boy in the United States who graduated from Purdue University with an engineering degree, earned a reputation for getting things done. He came up with ideas easily and, more important, he went to work on these ideas right away. He had the enthusiasm to make every start a vigorous start.

Shortly after he had learned to drive, he noticed one night how the eyes of a cat beside the highway reflected the beam of his headlight. As soon as he reached home he sketched a little device of metal and glass the size of an overcoat button, that could be placed along dangerous road banks to warn motorists of danger. That was the birth of “cat's eye” reflectors. Which have saved thousands of lives on the highway.

David Ross’s habit of jumping into every job with both feet and getting it done made him extremely productive. He was granted 88 patents, most of them important and money making.

Training your mind to be opportunity-centric keeps you always in a positive frame of mind, keeping Mr. Triumph always alive and kicking in your mind. Remember, it’s not the saturation but who we look at that situation mostly affects us. Whenever there is a situation your mind should always be tuned to the thought - Ok, now what? How can I make this situation an opportunity for me, or what is the learning which will help me handle challenges in future. So its opportunity everywhere, you just need to train yourself to grab it.

Best of Luck.