#19FITIOnlineWorkshops Opportunities Lost / Opportunities Gained. When I arrived in Ann Arbor MI late in the day on Monday -- March 17th, 2014, for a brief stay-over on the way to NYC, I was so very happy to drop the weight of my luggage on the bed in my hotel room and then collapse atop the bed with glee. Whirling around in my head were the spectacular images that I had just witnessed with my own eyes. Piled high into mountainous heaps by the snow scrapers was the snow of the past few days, which had then been transformed by a slow melt along with a particularly cold wind into the most spectacular site that I had perhaps ever witnessed. As I lay warming and resting my tired frame from the journey thus far, I decided that I would go out first thing the next morning, bright and early and do a full-scale photo-shoot of the wonderland just outside my door. As is so often the case in life-- opportunities not taken are soon become opportunities lost. There was left not even a hint of what I had seen upon exiting my room the next morning. Although I am not altogether crushed by the consequences of my shortsightedness and lack of understanding about the speed with which such things as these can come and go, I know this much with absolute certainty; I will never again postpone so great an opportunity as this one was to me in that mere moment in time. Lesson learned. They say that sometimes the lessons learned best are the lessons learned hardest. While I would not disagree that this is often the case, I will say with all conviction that it does not have to be this way. As I reflected this morning, on the opportunity lost, I decided to look online for anything at all which might give my readers even a glimpse at what I saw in that very unexpected and glorious moment in time. The image I have posted is as close to the spectacular grandeur that I beheld as I could find. I count myself truly blessed to have witnessed it, and even more so to have learned so powerful and so profoundly a lesson as this. I know I will never forget that lesson and it is this: We must stand diligently alert and watchful; always ready in a moments notice to seize the unexpected opportunities that come to us in life; because they were not meant for us alone. They were meant to be shared. I am going to choose to remember this experience with great fondness and a smile, instead of regret over a missed opportunity. I believe it was a gift of the most precious sort because it can serve not only as a life lesson to me personally, but also as a reminder to you all to live life with wide-eyed expectancy and glee; ever ready to seize the moments of glorious and unexpected joy and wonderment. These moment (though rare) really do come to those who will allow themselves to be momentarily inconvenienced by them. They will require our immediate and undivided attention, but they are infinitely, indescribably and gloriously worth it. - Diane
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 10:00:01 +0000
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