WHEN PREPARATION MEETS OPPORTUNITY
Monday Oct. 6, 2014
Are you prepared – to leap into action when a friend calls out for help, or digging in to help the friend in need because they need it and you know they will never ask until it is too late?
Are you prepared to open your door?
Are you prepared to open you heart?
Are you prepared to open your mind?
Of course you are prepared, but what are you doing?
Waiting around, prepared as can be, for something to happen will not make anything happen, will it?
When an opportunity is way out there, in the future, with plenty of time for preparation – when do we prepare?
An Olympic athlete prepares for years.
Only a fool prepares the night before …
But we have all been fools, have we not?
Being our own greatest roadblock, our fears, uncertainties and doubts.
Fretting over what we should have done, when we should have done it, what kind of different approach might have been more effective, more successful … seems too late when the moment arrives.
Being prepared, like it is for those Boy Scouts – a mantra that says you are ready, prepared, bringing your ‘A’ game. Yes, I am. I will, I can, I am sure of it.
Am I prepared – in the sense of endless rehearsals to make sure every element is without flaws? No.
But I am ready.
Ready for what?
Ready for whatever awaits …
Exactly … we have no idea what we are prepared for.
What are you prepared for today?
Are you prepared – waiting to meet someone extraordinary, or spending your time trying to be and do extraordinary things?
Mark Kolke
column written/ published from Banff
morning walk: 12C/53F, drizzly when I walked (the lighting and footing were not conducive to a long walk outdoors) so I continued on the treadmill at the gym in the hotel (Rimrock) where this conference is being held. I drove downtown in hope of finding a coffee shop with warm muffins – not to be found at 5AM, but I was not disappointed. I got very-near to a bull Elk – magnificent critters – and we each went on our way. He needed to get back to his herd, and I needed to get back to the hotel for my 8AM presentation to The Canadian Society of Club Managers.
Reader feedback / comments always welcome:
Neither of the two you wrote about; referring to the Headline Speakers have written a column for 11 1/2 years - nor have they struggled through, and survived, the real estate brokerage business in Edmonton and Calgary during severe recessions. Their challenges were, and are, of a different nature but no more daunting. You also did what you did with young children and broken relationships, in a new city, and new workplace - all very emotionally unsettling and draining. You write well, your musings are poignant, and thought provoking. I have heard you speak and present. You shine. You have nothing to fear about being in their company. You deserve to be among them. Opportunities are earned, not bestowed. You have earned this. Congratulations. Well done. I have no doubt you will excel and 'wow' the crowd, RT, Vancouver, BC
Hi Mark: Imagine Maui time is fast approaching. Many moons ago my Dad wrote in my first autograph book: “Footsteps in the sands of time were never made by standing still.” They were not his words, but carry a lot of meaning for many. Methinks this fits right in to your new “plan”, BR, Calgary, AB
