The Element of Understanding Opportunity is a Reward in Itself and Its Hope for Thriving, Not Just Surviving

Each one of us is capable of becoming a Master of Our Own Universe.

If we put our minds, hearts and souls into something, (anything), our hard work, our passion, our dedication will bear fruit.

It starts by recognizing that every opportunity is a reward in itself.

Every opportunity contains the promise of enriching our lives.

When we have an opportunity to try something new, we should think of the opportunity as a reward in itself.

When we have an opportunity to solve a problem, we should think of the opportunity as a reward in itself.

When we have an opportunity to use a talent in a new way, or for a new purpose, we should think of the opportunity as a reward in itself.

When we have an opportunity to put an idea to work, we should think of the opportunity as a reward in itself.

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We can fill our ordinary lives with extraordinary inspiration, by responding to new opportunities with enthusiasm, imagination and energy.

Every opportunity is a chance to be vital, to rediscover ourselves, and reinvigorate our lives.

It goes without saying that coming to America was one of the biggest opportunities in my life.

Yet it was also a tough call for me.

The opportunity disrupted my life, interrupted my career, challenged my confidence, and scattered my professional and social networks.

I had to give up my ideas of who I was, and what I could do, in order to respond to the opportunity of coming to America.

I had no idea how it would all go down.

But I went ahead and did it.

I closed my creative shop Purple Patch, I said goodbye to my copywriting career, I packed my bags, and with a 11 month old baby tucked under my arm, my amazing and precious daughter Tanita, I moved to America.

I soon learned what the Land of Opportunity meant.

It meant I had to learn to do a lot of new things.

The opportunities to learn these new things were all available to me.

It was up to me to use the opportunities.

I remember cracking open a Penny Saver magazine and being surprised to read these words:  Are you finding it difficult to get a job because you have not completed your GED, or you do not have Microsoft Office skills?  Goodwill Institute for Career Development will provide you with free training.

Free training – it was unheard of in India.

I caught 3 buses (I was not yet driving at the time) and after taking a Language and Math test, which was necessary for admission, I enrolled in their Microsoft Office training course and I soon learned Word, Excel, Access and Powerpoint.

That checked off my list, the next thing for me to learn was to drive.

I had got away with not learning to drive in India.  I used autorickshaws to get around, and as soon as Purple Patch was making enough money, I hired a driver to chauffeur me around.

But after my first few days in the San Francisco Bay Area, I understood it would be tough for me to get anything done, unless I learned to drive.

The public transport system, with its infrequent services and limited connections, would severely limit my life.

How would I take Tanita to her doctor’s appointments, how would I pick up diapers and wipes, how would I take her to parks, and most important of all, how would I be able to manage a job, if I didn’t learn to drive?  I would need to drop Tanita off at daycare before work, and pick her up after work.  How would I be able to do that without driving?

And so I enrolled in driving lessons.

Seems you no need this, the driving instructor screamed at me, jerking the rear view mirror away from me, so it didn’t face me.  This tirade was triggered, because I had crossed 4 lanes of the freeway into the carpool lane, without looking at the rear view mirror. There was more to come.

On another occasion, she screamed, I said tree point turn, not u turn. Why you no listen?

I would be trembling by the end of each lesson, but I felt I deserved it, it was all to my good, it would only make me a better driver - that is, until I discovered, unnerving me and making me feel bad about my driving, was part of a larger plan.

You no pass driving test. Better you pay me $500 and I get license for you.  Okay.  Okay? the driving instructor said to me, when we were alone on one of the lessons.

What little confidence I had in my driving vanished at that point.

But her offer did not appeal to me.  If I was already frightened of being on the road, I would be even more terrified with a falsely acquired license.

I am not one who can say no easily, or display outrage, even when it is called for, and I declined her offer in such a roundabout way, she did not get the message at all, and continued to repeat the offer during the next 2 lessons, even lowering her price, and offering me an installment plan. In hindsight, I should have said Me no want drivers license from you.  Okay. Okay?  

What I did was fail to show up for the remaining 2 lessons. What was the point, I thought. If she had the power to get me a license, surely she had the power to have me fail me on the driving test. 

So with help from my family, I started lessons with a new driving instructor.  When that didn’t work out either, my family jumped in and decided to teach me driving themselves. I had to catch two buses and the Bart to get to them, but it was worth it. My sister, my brother in law, my sister in law, all took turns teaching me. When everyone felt I was ready, I took my driving test, and I passed.

I soon found out there were other things to learn as a driver.

I parked outside the wrong office building one day, and my car was towed.  Another time, I parked in the handicapped parking spot outside my apartment for 15 minutes, and my car was towed again.  I paid $140 dollars to the first towing company to reclaim my car; I paid $280 to the second. Both times, I had to take multiple buses to get to the towing companies to retrieve my car.

I learned how to deal with car breakdowns.  I didn’t call the closest male relative I knew.  I called AAA. AAA towed me to the nearest mechanic, I rented a car and drove the rental car till my car was fixed.  Then I returned the rental and picked up my car.  This was what you were expected to do. And this is what I did.

America gave me the opportunity to become more autonomous and self-sufficient.

I had never cooked before coming to America.  I learned to cook. I had never done my own laundry before coming to America.  I learned to do my own laundry. 

I had to learn the geography and culture and business ways of a new city and a new country.  And, of course, I had to learn to make new friends.

I did all of this.

And then, of course, there was the business of getting a job and making a living.

After being an administrative assistant for a year at different companies, I was given an opportunity to become a Commissions Analyst.

At the time, I did not know what it meant, or what it involved.

All I knew was you needed to be good at Excel for it. I was not good at Excel.

But by being open to the idea of picking it up, and applying myself, I picked it up.

In hindsight, every one of these things was an opportunity in itself.

The driving… the cooking…making friends…learning a new culture and geography…training for a brand new career…

Everyone one of them was a challenge, but in each challenge, rested an opportunity to acquire new skills, and grow in confidence.

It is quite amazing to me when I think of it.

Here was this person who did not know her cumin from her coriander, who did not know how to make a pot of rice - without over-cooking it or under-cooking it -, who was suddenly hosting weekly dinners for friends from different countries, a year later.

I am glad I let go and trusted myself.

I am glad I stopped clinging to the raft of my ideas of what I could do, and what I couldn’t do.

I am glad I chose opportunity over security, even though I didn’t know how it would all go down.

Even while we value the past, we should not cling to it, denying ourselves the possibility of moving on.

There are all kinds of changes we will be called upon to make in our lives.

Changing countries is one kind of change.

There are other changes we will have the opportunity to make.

Some are physical, some are spiritual, some are intellectual, some emotional.

We have all these spheres in which to grow.

If there's one sphere in which we all need to grow, it is emotionally.

A few years ago, I sought the opportunity to grow emotionally.

I am so glad I did.

What was the point of me learning to drive and to cook and to do laundry and to make new friends and to start a new career, if I was stuck emotionally?

It started with my mother's death, after which I sought to become a gentler soul - as she was.

I then became a practitioner of meditation.

I have been meditating for 5 years now.

Meditation changed me from a high maintenance person to a low maintenance person.

I owe this to reading the book How God Changes the Brain, and then responding to the opportunity to change myself.

Opportunity is a reward in itself.

Find the right opportunity and respond to it, and it will ignite your spirit.

You will thrive, not just survive.

I have come to realize that nothing worthwhile is without risk.

If we try to minimize the risk in our lives - we will live lives as mere shadows of ourselves.

We will settle for being less human that we are.  

We will be thinking brains without beating hearts.

There will be no fire in our souls.

There is an Arabian Proverb which says: Four things come not back: The spoken word, The sped arrow, The past life, The neglected opportunity. 

When I decided to immigrate to America, I decided to look fear in the face.

Everyone needs to look fear in the face.

It’s only when we look fear in the face, we will not neglect our opportunities.

Security is an illusion.

As Brian Tracy said, “The more we seek security, the less of it we have. The more we seek opportunity, the more likely it is that we will achieve the security we desire.”

I feel more secure now than I ever did.

Perhaps, it’s because I now know how to do so many more things.

More importantly, I now know how to handle so many more things.

I am not afraid of newness, of uncertainty, of discomfort, of challenge, even of loss, I know I can handle it.

Let go and sail out I say to everyone – even if my words don’t say that, hopefully my actions do.

Don’t anchor yourself to the comfortable.

It’s okay to be a rookie again.

In fact, it’s perfect.

A rookie mindset will keep your tired ego, and fear of change out of the way.

A rookie mindset will make new things possible.

Oh, to be a rookie forever.

Yes, the beginning of a new opportunity is the beginning of a new lease in life.

Which is why I say, opportunity is a reward in itself.

In each opportunity - and in our response to it - we find our wisdom.

The kind of wisdom Jonas Salk, the inventor of the polio vaccine knew well.

On testing his vaccine against polio on himself, his wife, and his three sons, Salk said,

“It is courage based on confidence, not daring, and it is confidence based on experience.”

On receiving the Congressional Medal for Distinguished Civilian Achievement in 1956, he said,

“The reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more.”

On receiving the Nehru award in 1977, he said, “Our greatest responsibility is to be good ancestors.”

On being asked why he chose to do medical research, rather than be a practicing physician, he said, “Nothing happens quite by chance. It's a question of accretion of information and experience.”

And finally, when asked about taking risks, here’s what Dr.Salk said,

“Risks, I like to say, always pay off. You learn what to do, or what not to do.”

May you live long, respond to many opportunities, and thrive.

As always thanks for reading and have a great day and week….M…..a Pearl Seeker like you.  Thanks to Ajay and Moonshine 1970 for their comments on my last post, and thanks to the rest of you for your likes, pins and votes…much appreciated.