What Opportunities are You Overlooking?
How many times have you been standing at grocery store checkout, pumping gas, or simply walking down the street and spotted a penny, a nickel, dime, quarter, or even a dollar bill on the ground? How many times did you opt not to pick up the money because it “was just a penny”? How many times did you choose not to pick up the penny because it was ‘heads side up’ (supposedly, not good luck)?
There is a saying, “See a penny, pick it up, and all the day you’ll have good luck”.
I think there is truth at the basis of this old adage and that is that we create opportunities to be lucky.
The question then becomes how many times do we ignore, judge or avoid judgement of others and ignore opportunity that lands right in front of us?
I tell folks all the time that money comes easy and that it rains from the sky, “pennies from heaven”. Yes, I know this sounds rather absurd, but if you really think about it, money, and opportunity for that matter, are a result of what you believe, and I believe they are abundant.
Stopping and picking up a penny certainly will not make you rich, but it is acknowledging and giving space to a very cool reality that can be a game changer.
We’ve all been in that awkward situation where we wonder if someone is going to think we are a weirdo for stopping in the middle of the parking lot, on the way into the store, or in any other public space to bend over and pick up a penny that everyone else has chosen to ignore.
I am that person who will always stop and pick up a penny. It really doesn’t matter where I’m at. Okay, that’s not true, because I recently saw a penny on the side of the toilet in a very busy public restroom and I did draw a line and not grab the penny. However, I must report that I really did consider picking it up. Again, not because I believe collecting pennies is going to make me a millionaire, but for what they represent — opportunity and luck.
I have a jar in which I place, what I call my, “Pennies from heaven.” Even though the jar has more than pennies, the jar is symbolic to me. The contents of the jar serves to remind me that opportunities present themselves all the time. Often they present themselves where and when we least expect. Additionally, by acting on opportunities we might believe that we will be judged by others and choose not to take action.
Are you overlooking opportunities and opportunities to create your own luck?
Most of us can say that we have experienced a time wherein we created luck. We were in the right place at the right time or an opportunity arose because of a circumstance or acquaintance. Now, let’s expand on this thought. What did you say yes to prior to being in the right place or meeting that person? Alternatively, maybe you had to say no to something so that you availed yourself to be in that space.
I propose that opportunities, like pennies on the ground in random places abound, but we need to pay attention and not walk over them or worry about what others will think. We create our own luck by inviting in opportunities when they arise.
We develop through trial and error. We fail, we learn, we grow — at least we should be doing this. What often happens is we worry more about what could go wrong instead of focusing on the outcome that we desire. This causes us to shut down to trying new things.
Can you imagine knowing what you know now, learning to walk? Would you be embarrassed and give up because others would watch you fall? I mean, really, how silly you might look trying repeatedly! Nevertheless, low and behold, one day you finally get it and there is no stopping you. You then go from walking to running.
Why then, do we allow ourselves to look past or straight at opportunity and not allow ourselves to try? We talk ourselves out of it before we even give it a try.
The point that I am trying to make is that we cannot just ignore the penny in the road. We must take action and pick it up. Opportunity is here, there, and everywhere for you to seize, but first you must acknowledge the opportunity, grab hold, and reap the reward of good fortune.
“Luck is the good fortune you create for yourself.” Mac Duke
