Lucky Breaks Are Given but It Matters More in Seizing and Sizing the Opportunities
By Shiva
@Shiva49 (28380)
Singapore
August 2, 2021 9:45am CST
As I look back on my life, I recall the breaks that came my way. I let go more than I took advantage of. That boiled down to the choices I made. Those I let go were not my cup of tea though they could have changed my lifestyle away from the one I was comfortable with.
One of William Shakespeare’s quotes resonates within me repeatedly: “There is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat. And we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures.” That really implores us to take the chances as they come or rue the missed opportunities.
It is never easy to make life altering decisions. Some are ready to even risk their lives like the two billionaires who went to outer space and to experience weightlessness. And they returned to tell the tale! Maybe, they had exhausted all options at the ground level or just above it. It is no more Go West Young Man – it is go deep into space, the farther the better.
Ultimately, it is what floats our boats, what we are comfortable with. I have some nice recollections for which I can pat myself. And no real regrets in letting go others.
How about you? Did you seize the opportunities that came your way?
Image: The Sky is not the Limit
10 people like this
10 responses
@eileenleyva (27555)
• Philippines
2 Aug 21
Good discussion for reflection.
First, let me be clear that the billionaires' brief space adventures at the cost of other people's lives are too expensive for my taste. Not my cup of tea.
Having said that, I do believe in 'Carpe Diem.' But to each his own objective.
Money was never a goal in life. Not one ever enticed to join the rat race. It's for rodents, not me.
5 people like this
@eileenleyva (27555)
• Philippines
4 Aug 21
@Shiva49 The simplest joys are the greatest. Mine is family also. I could have engaged in something more fantastic but that would be to the detriment of my family. My loved ones first.
As to the race in space as a play time for the big time, doesn't hold much water to me. Perhaps if its to the moon and back, I'd consider it.
2 people like this
@Shiva49 (28380)
• Singapore
3 Aug 21
Good points, thanks.
In a way, I like their dare because they are willing to risk it. And then resonating with what Neil Armstrong said “That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," it is a part of man's quest for adventure.
Maybe, inbuilt in us to seek our place in the huge real estate that we form an insignificant part of.
Then again, I won't volunteer even if it is free!
Yes, money was not an object for me too. I took jobs where I could take urgent leave to look after my parents. And then to cherish family time - work got priority while at the workplace and family while at home.
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@cahaya1983 (11116)
• Malaysia
5 Aug 21
I love that you mentioned about creating opportunities! That's definitely the best way to go.
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@m_audrey6788 (58468)
• Germany
2 Aug 21
Yes. Sometimes. It depends on how I see it. 
3 people like this
@RebeccasFarm (91297)
• United States
3 Aug 21
Well I did not seize some in my youth that I most definitely should have.
I am a locomotive though and seize all that I can now.
4 people like this
@RebeccasFarm (91297)
• United States
3 Aug 21
@Shiva49 It surely did and I am glad to hear that Shiva.
3 people like this
@innertalks (23740)
• Australia
2 Aug 21
Sometimes we can seize opportunities, but then drop the baton, even as we run ahead with it.
At other times, we can seize opportunities too quickly, and rue the results, for the rest of our lives.
I have seized opportunities, when they were obviously there for me to take, and overall, the overall benefits have been good.
My life has changed dramatically through these seizings of opportunities.
I sometimes do wonder though.
I probably would have been much better off financially now, if I had not taken those opportunities, but stayed resting on the comfortable cushion, that life had already provided me with too.
3 people like this
@innertalks (23740)
• Australia
3 Aug 21
@Shiva49 I was an admin officer there for twenty years. I took a redundancy package to buy my bookshop.
No wonder you like cricket, as you are a dab hand at it too.
Fancy mistaking you for Siva, the Indian player, you must have impressed him with your bowling.
@innertalks (23740)
• Australia
3 Aug 21
@Shiva49 Replaying old memories is good at the moment, as it is hard to make any new ones.....
@Shiva49 (28380)
• Singapore
3 Aug 21
@innertalks Yes, those memories keep replaying and are rather amusing too.
I am never short of all types of memories!
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@BelleStarr (61463)
• United States
2 Aug 21
I have seized many opportunities and have few regrets.
3 people like this
@cahaya1983 (11116)
• Malaysia
5 Aug 21
I would weigh the risks vs. benefits if I do seize an opportunity. So I can't say I seize every opportunity that comes my way because it depends whether or not the benefits would outweigh the risks. But no regrets so far.
3 people like this
