Opportunities, I’m finding, often come to us in hidden ways. I remember a church leader saying something like, when we are too focused on looking for the miraculous in our lives, we will miss the everyday outpouring of good.
Sadly, I find that to be true in my own life, and the lives of people I love. We are either well-intentioned but distracted, or we become focused on certain goals and feel we need to buckle down, laser focus, and make it work. And while the latter can be good traits, so can lifting our eyes, seeing people and situations with deeper vision, and sensing what might be a better choice regardless of the logic before us.
A few months ago I was asked to speak at a writing conference, as well as attend the speaker’s dinner the night before. Because I limit my time away from family, I hesitated to do both. However, I also wanted to support this smaller conference. On impulse, and after squaring it with family, I went. While there, I chatted with two authors also at the speaker’s table. Before the night was out, we had discussed doing a romance anthology (which I had never done), agreed to do one together, set a timeline, and had penned a possible plotline with setting and potential co-authors.
Wait, what?
Last week (four months after the dinner), that anthology—Christmas Kisses: An Echo Ridge Anthology—was released and hit #1 on Amazon in three different categories!
A hidden opportunity, that’s exactly what this was.
What seemed like an inconsequential speakers’ dinner at a small writing conference turned out to be a fantastic writing opportunity with amazing friends-for-life women whom I respect and adore.
When approaching daily life, keep an open heart and a spiritual eye for those “hidden opportunities.” They typically yield the most rewards, both tangible and intangible.
And now it’s your turn:
What has been a hidden opportunity in your life that has proved to be an unexpected blessing?
What’s a possible “hidden opportunity” that is before you right now?
What is something reasonable you can do to explore that opportunity?
Best,
Connie
