“Learn everything you can, anytime you can, from anyone you can – there will always come a time when you will be grateful you did.” -Sarah Caldwell

Are you ready? (Ready for what, you ask.) Are you ready to grab hold of opportunity at any moment? To be open to unexpected blessings that are placed in your path without seeming to have done anything to instigate the occurrence?

For those of us who have a precise plan that we are following to achieve our goals and dreams, or simply live the life we enjoy living, while we may say yes to the above question, we may actually miss a handful of very significant opportunities that are presented to us.

The definition of luck is something considered the result of chance, but I firmly believe that the luck which has been ascribed to many successful people is far from being the cause of something so capricious. Rather my definition of luck is preparation meeting opportunity.

”The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.”
-Benjamin Disraeli

While you may not have planned to meet so-so who had you not have met, wouldn’t have changed the course of your life, you still had to make the decision to be where you were and then to engage and absorb what the other person was offering.

For example, over the course of the past three months, I have had the opportunity to cross paths with three talented women in the publishing business. All such instances were not something I could have planned, but each were situations in which I could have ducked or not shown up for. Had I not made the decision to show up, engage, ask questions and try to learn all that they were offering, I would still be twiddling my thumbs wondering how I could move forward in trying to turn The Simply Luxurious Life blog into a book. Now, I at least have direction and confidence that there is a proven plan for success. The only missing piece now is effort and determination on my part.

You see, opportunity doesn’t ask when it may come to dinner. More often than not, it just shows up. And you can choose to join the dinner party or be a party pooper and not see the blessing disguised as an ordinary day.

“Nothing is so often irretrievably missed as a daily opportunity.”
-Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

While you should always have a clear vision of your values and what you want to achieve, it is the path that may not resemble what you had predicted. Loosening your grip on the details dealing with how and when you arrive is okay. Simply being willing to consider a slightly different route to your desired destination is the important beginning of making your dream a reality.

~SIMILAR POSTS FROM THE ARCHIVES YOU MIGHT ENJOY:

~20 Ways to be Prepared for Opportunity

~An Opportunity in Disguise

~How to Create Opportunities