Wake-up calls can be perceived as opportunities because a choice not to do something is also a choice to do something else. Moments of focused choice often highlight the consequences of all the actions under consideration. We can become more awake and aware.
Samuel Johnson wrote, “To improve the golden moment of opportunity, and catch the good that is within our reach, is the great art of life.”
Have you ever thought of an opportunity as a wake-up call? What opportunities have you accepted and developed that felt momentous like you were literally being awakened? Can you think of opportunities lost where you did not awaken – and you later wished you had?
Would you characterize yourself as an “opportunist” in the positive sense of the word – as Johnson described – to be mindful of the “golden moment of opportunity”? Do you provide opportunities for others in ways that can feel like wake-up calls?