Whether you believe it or not, each day presents a favorable set of circumstances in your life. These circumstances stare you in the face and give you a chance to react... But first we must be looking.
That bait is what I like to call the “small window of opportunity” or SWO. Every day presents many small unscheduled chances for you to act on appropriately but if you don’t answer in a timely manner that small window of opportunity can be lost forever.
My mom told me that her father once said that if a person dies without having any true regrets, then that person may not have lived at all. This is sage wisdom.
What he meant was that he let some opportunities pass him by during his lifetime which caused him to have deep-seeded regrets later in life. It’s human nature to have regrets because regrets involve active decision-making and sometimes we don’t make the best decisions. Without deviating too far away from looking at these small windows of opportunities, let me tell you a small story that illustrates this point well:
Recently I saw an iconic photo of a man sleeping on the subway while former President Barack Obama stood next to him. Now, I am assuming the man slept fully through what could have been one of the more profound interactions of his year or of his decade in conversation with the man standing beside him. Instead, he was fast asleep and that small window of opportunity to have a life changing moment passed him by. A connection could have happened, but it didn’t. That particular SWO was lost forever.
Sometimes those small windows of opportunity only come once in your life. Sometimes they come multiple times, and sometimes they come when we least expect them. Being ready for them and living life with anticipation for those opportunities will train your brain to be ready and on stand by for when they arise.
You can graduate from the best University, know the best people, and have the best car but if you allow other small windows of opportunity such as conversing with a former President to slip by, you may miss it for the rest of your life.
What small windows have you missed lately and how can you prevent that from happening again?
Conclusion
Don’t spend your life stuck in the past with your head down and don’t spend it being too stressed about your future. Loosen up a bit and look for the small windows of opportunity each day and act accordingly. Talk to that stranger, smile as you walk in the park. Leave no small moments on the table.
Ryan
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