The Terror of Oppportunity

“This is so weird and terrifying.” – A friend

The Terror of Opportunity

The instant messaging ping went off on my phone.  I looked down at it and was surprised.

“I’m so afraid right now!” Focused my attention on the screen!

New words flashed.  “I’m really scared right now.  That was my best shot!”

I answered back, “Nothing you can do right now.  You are right there to help everyone. Just be there for them.”

“Yeah, I’m just freaking out!”

That’s when I needed to say something else, something that would change everything.  So, I said, “Don’t!  It is a huge opportunity for you.  View it that way with confidence!”

“This is a nightmare!”

“No!  This is an opportunity!”

There wasn’t more time to talk at the moment.  My friend was doing all she could do and I knew it.  I also knew that I needed to help her shift her view from a vision of terror to a vision of opportunity!  A large part of her future was going to be based on how she faced her current circumstance.  She could give up and run, or she could take a long hard look to see that while this appeared to be a bad turn of events it was really opening a door that would other wise not be opening to her.  I wanted her to open the door to opportunity!

I’ve been through this process many times in my own life.  In fact, “bad things” had happened to me so many times that I just began to expect them on a regular basis.  It began to be my natural view of the world.  It had become a habit.  But, I didn’t recognize it until my friend Spencer Shaw said one day, “Oh, come on Eeyore.”

Eeyore is a character in the Winnie-the-Pooh books by A. A. Milne. He’s generally characterized as a pessimistic, gloomy, depressed, old grey stuffed donkey that is a friend of the title character, Winnie-the-Pooh.  I’ve never been a fan of the Eeyore character so I wanted to change.

My desire to change allowed me to consider other options for how I viewed the world.  That’s when I learned to understand that there were optional views available for everyone.  I also began to see that the point of view I personally selected directly affected my actions.

When I chose to see challenges as opportunities my ability to deal with them also changed.  So I began to practice seeing opportunity all around me and when I did, I started to feel more peace and hope inside. 

I’m making it sound as if this was an easy change for me.  It wasn’t.  I’ve had to focus on changing for many years and there were times when I wondered if I had made any progress at all.  Then.  A few years later I was talking with Spencer again.

He said, “You’ve changed.  I’m proud of you!”

That’s when I finally felt as if I had become a new person, a person much closer to the person I had been trying to create.  And, I wanted to make a difference for a friend feeling hopeless terror.  So, we talked on the phone at the end of the day.

She said, “Toward the end of the crisis my boss took the time to come in and talk with me. She asked how I liked working there.  I said, ‘I couldn’t imagine working anywhere else.  These people are my family.’”

Then she went on to say that as soon as those words had passed her lips, her boss looked at her and said, “Today’s circumstances have confirmed that we don’t want to lose you, so we’re creating a new position for you!  Would you like that?”

It was at that moment that her terror had indeed been replaced with the cloaked opportunity.   I could hear it in her voice!  She is excited to more forward with confidence and feels much more able to chose to see new opportunity all around now.

We all feel very afraid at times in life.  When you do, practice seeing opportunity.   See what doors it will open for you!