When Opportunity Knocks

As I am living out my own journey, there are times when I am reminded of what I write about - and how I need to remember my own advice.  This week I have covered the topics of discipline and failure.  I also made the statement last week that if you want life to present opportunities to do good, then it will - and we have to be ready to seize that moment and make the right choice.  These three topics - discipline, failure, and seizing the moment - all came to fruition in my life this week and in some ways I followed through, but in some ways I did not. 

I had all intention to be very disciplined this week in certain areas and although I am doing well so far, I have let a couple of things go by without following through.  The bad thing is - I really do not have a good excuse.  I did not work out yesterday simply because I chose not to.  I told myself I was full from lunch (fajitas and nachos) and just needed to relax.  That is actually when I really need to work out, right?  I did not work on my book last night because I chose to watch TV later than I needed and ended up going to bed.  Sure it could be a lot worse but the point is - I made the decision to be disciplined this week and by day three I failed (and I use that word lightly).  Today was a new day and I have followed through with my commitments.  I did choose to remember  that failure is an opportunity, not the end.  Instead of completely giving up I made sure and worked out today and will be working on the book before I go to bed tonight - I promise.   

My other learning moment this week came from the idea of seizing the moment.  I have made a conscious effort to be open to the opportunities that life presents to do good and help others.  Today at work, I had a "random moment" where another co-worker asked me to help her with a schedule change.  I quickly said that I had plans and was unable to switch days and work for her.  WHAT?!  I did not really have plans - I have just been looking forward to my day off tomorrow and did not want to change that.  Can we say selfish?  She was not upset and continued to ask others that might be able to help - but the point is that I did not seize the moment to help someone else.  My goal is to not hesitate in helping others - instead I did not hesitate to come up with a way to not help!  That's awful Kevin!

Here is the moral of the story - if we put something out into the world it is going to come back to us.  If we pray for something to happen - it might actually happen and we need to be ready.  If we decide to do something - be willing to follow through.  And if we mess up, it is probably not the end of the world but use that as an opportunity to learn from it and do better the next time.  One thing about writing this blog is that it easily comes back to me in my life and that is why I share the good and the bad of what I am learning on this journey. 

Make sure and come back tomorrow.  I am going to stray from the norm and tell a funny story about my sisters.  After a couple of weeks I thought it was time for just a fun blog!  I will also give more details about the my first give-a-way for the year!  Have a great day!