Opportunity Knocks

So every once in awhile our good friend Mr. Opportunity comes a knockin’. Some of us run to the door and answer it, eager to see what the adventurous man has in store, while others turn off all the lights, lock the doors, and hide in the bathroom, just hoping he’ll think we’re not home.

Most of us know which category we fit into, whether or not we care to admit it. Some of us are just afraid of the unknown, or what we might miss out on if we take a different path. And some of us live every moment waiting for something new and different to come around, hoping for an opportunity to land on our doorstep and sweep us away.

Well, up until recently you could pretty much throw me in the “hiding in the bathroom” category. Opportunities would come around and I would think of every excuse in the book not to take them. And after the fact I always regretted my decision to let them slip through my fingers, but I never seemed to learn from my mistakes.

Recently an opportunity fell in my lap, and yet again I hesitated (my mom calls it the “oldest-child syndrome”). I was given the chance to spend a week in Kiawah Island, South Carolina with my Cuz, and, despite everything normal for a 19-year-old college student, something in the back of my mind made me think twice.

I had nothing holding me back really. I could easily cover my babysitting jobs for the week. But for some reason I still hesitated.

So I had a nice long chat with my mom, and this is the conclusion we came to:

Life is like a puzzle. You get a lot of pieces, and it’s up to you to put them in the right places. We spend a lot of time looking for certain pieces, but life is too short to waste time waiting. The best way to find the pieces you are looking for is just to get to work and do what you can.

In other words, when Mr. Opportunity knocks, go open the door and invite him in for some cookies. He may not be everything you were expecting, but he may lead you to something greater.

So here I am, lying in a bed next to Cuz in Kiawah Island, South Carolina.

He knocked, I answered, and I plan on having a good ‘ole time getting to know the fellow.

Rachel and me at Hyman's Seafood in Charleston, South Carolina.