Opportunity is all around us. Every day there are opportunities for something. For example, I had the opportunity to play games online and waste some time. I had the opportunity to go shopping for the day, but I chose not to because I have a backlog of work that needs to be finished.
Some opportunities are great, others not so much. The hubs got an opportunity for a new job. At first it sounds great; substantially more money, he could work from home most of the time, and it’s with a major defense contractor. Sounds great right? How many of you realize this is an election year? Defense contractor? Let me translate they can pull contracts as fast as they write new SOP’s. Which means no job security.
The money would be a large increase, but wait he would have to buy our own health insurance so that decreases the amount substantially. Initial contract period is only six months, then what? We looked over the list of pros and cons and decided that this opportunity really didn’t work into our short or long-term plans. It sounds great on the surface, but when you scratch below the veneer it wasn’t a good fit.
I have the opportunity for another writing venture. It sounds exciting and is something I think I can do but . . . I have promised myself that I would finish the projects I already have started. I have other people involved with current projects. There is already a shortage of hours in the day to dedicate to writing as it is.
We let these opportunities pass us by, but we are not disheartened because we know that opportunities are everywhere. Some aren’t for us. some aren’t for us right now. When you find the ones that you feel are golden, those are the ones that you latch onto an pursue with abandon. The allegory to opportunities have been compared to ships such as the expression ‘ her ship has come in.’ Well the thing is more like at the docks, ships come in ships go out. some are laden with resources. There are cargo ships, passenger ships, transport ships – I don’t want to go into this a lot because I really don’t know much about ships besides my love for all things aquatic.
The person that hinges on the dream “someday my ship will come in” is severely limiting themselves. It’s a busy dock down there on Opportunity landing. I plan on having several ships come in, not just one lone ship sneaking in after dark. Somehow we got that image that we have to constantly be watching, yet in the back of our mind this lone ship named Opportunity eases in like a ghost ship some time around midnight, silently skimming over the water, barely making a sound, and only docks for a short amount of time before easing out from the dock just before sunrise.
As the song from Porgy and Bess says, “It Ain’t necessarily so.” I may be starting with an old beat up tugboat, but that tug is a powerful little vessel despite the worn paint and dings along the side. Next I’ll have me one of those cargo ships, buying and selling merchandise. Before you know it there will be a whole fleet of Opportunity vessels at my dock.
Eventually one of them will be a luxury yacht! It all starts with the little beat up tug. It doesn’t look like much on the outside but that tugboat is a vital piece of equipment to the opportunity fleet.
Here’s a hint though, you have to visit the docks in order to find the right ship. Hanging out at the mid city bar is fun but you’re not going to find a ship there. Ships come by waterways, waterways are life to a region.
We live by the Mississippi River, a major shipping lane for grain and other commodities. The cost of shipping the same amount of grain by land in trucks would increase the cost by three or four times the cost of shipping by barge. Each barge holds the equivalent of like 18 semi trucks. (Don’t quote me on that – it’s a rough estimate, ok? but it’s a lot more than a semi truck!)
Please tell me that you’re getting my allegory because I’m feeling a bit light headed from lack of caffeine. Here’s the bottom line, opportunity doesn’t just knock once or twice. It knocks frequently. Ships are coming in all the time – check the schedule. But be wise and inspect who you’re opening the door to because traps come disguised as opportunity and some boats have holes in their hull.
Have you passed by an opportunity that others think you’re foolish to pass on? Have you been holding out for the single ship named opportunity? do you think I’ve gone off my rocker for good this time? Give me some feedback, after all we’re all in this together.
Who knows, if things don’t work out with the tugboat theory there’s always piracy. Arrrrggggghhhhhhh!
Write on my friends, write on!
quotidiandose 