# Opportunity Knocks On Every Door



## qwertyportne (Aug 24, 2014)

_The human heart has ever dreamed of a fairer world than the one it knows. 
In a happy moment, earth seems to hold the promise of larger things. 
But the moment passes and the world closes in again--
actual, bare and unyielding, as before. ~Carleton Noyes_​
Carl Jung coined the word synchronicity for the feeling people get when coincidental, chance encounters seem to be purposeful events, not meaningless accidents.  Synchronicity suggests there is a dynamic relationship between our minds and external events, as reflected in the saying, "When the student is ready, a teacher will come."  If we change within, our outer lives will change too.

William James believed the greatest revolution of our generation was the discovery that changing our attitudes can change our lives. When we are ready to change and take responsibility for the outcome of our choices, the teacher can be a chance encounter. Asking "What does that mean?" and "How should I respond?" creates an opportunity to integrate intuition and action and thereby to harmonize our inner selves with outer circumstances.

Believing and behaving as if we are part of an elegant, intricate unity—a whole greater than the sum of its parts—can be the key that unlocks synchronicity in your life. When you see your life and the lives of others as interdependent, not separate, inclusiveness becomes embedded in your attitudes and your actions. You begin to see  meaning in both single encounters and in the collective effect of two or more events that coincide sequentially in a meaningful way.

Whether you see coincidences as random chance, serendipitous luck, divine intervention, fate, destiny or messages from a grand scheme of some kind, natural or supernatural, remember that the things we notice depend on our focus: what we are looking for, not what we are looking at. If you are looking for a needle in a hay stack, an old tennis shoe won't have any meaning for you.

"Living in relationship to everything and everyone," said Rick Jarow, "will open synchronicity. Being totally inclusive. Anything that happens, you relate to it -- if your three-year-old comes in and says something, if a rock comes in the window. A relationship to me means you’re not judgmental. You're not removing yourself. You’re vulnerable. You’re exposing yourself to the universe. There’s no distance."

Synchronicity happens all the time. Like opportunity, it knocks so often it has sore knuckles. Let it alter your focus. Let it foster an attitude of inclusiveness. Remain aloof and detached, superior and judgmental, and you risk not being part of the whole, a spectator who judges life as flawed and meaningless. Be inclusive and connected, humble and responsive, and you become aware that happiness is a journey, not a destination; that success and failure are both impostors; that we are all a work in progress; that meaning is in the eyes of the beholder.

One way to make your dreams come true is to wake up. Stop sleep-walking through life. Allow chance encounters to be that awakening, that happy moment—a window through which you suddenly see a path with heart.

That path has always been there, and when we realize that it has, the window becomes a door to a happier, more fulfilling life. The world remains actual and real, as it should, but now it is ripe and malleable because you and I bloom with self-fulfilling purpose and meaning.

May you approach every day as one more opportunity for a fresh start with a bit of synchronicity waiting somewhere beyond the morning.


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## Plasticweld (Aug 24, 2014)

Nicely written, of course it doesn't hurt that I agree with you.  I too am from the school of thought, that you make your own luck.  Bad luck is what happens to everyone.  Good luck is when you take something bad and turn it around through hard work, imagination, determination, and grit.


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## dither (Aug 25, 2014)

If only qwerty fellow,
if only.


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## Cran (Aug 25, 2014)

I can't see any nits to pick in this one. Well done.


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## Seedy M. (Aug 25, 2014)

Excellent!
I had opportunity knock on my door once. I was tired and asked my roommate to answer the door.


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## dither (Aug 25, 2014)

Seedy M. said:


> Excellent!
> I had opportunity knock on my door once. I was tired and asked my roommate to answer the door.



Lol, story of my life mate.


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## gokedik (Aug 31, 2014)

Beautiful, encouraging and thoughtful. It was a pleasurable read. I do believe perception is reality and be careful what you allow into your brain, it WILL manifest. I'm deadly serious. I am a poster child for this claim.


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## cassie30 (Sep 1, 2014)

It is very well written no complaints here.


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## qwertyportne (Sep 3, 2014)

Thanks to every one of you for your kind remarks. Very glad you enjoyed it and found it valuable. Should have gotten back to this thread sooner but been busy as a nine-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.


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