Have you been waiting for a huge opportunity to come your way and sweep you off your feet? A stunning job offer? A life-changing encounter? A million-dollar idea that you know is going to work?

I have. I thought that when a GREAT opportunity presented itself, I would not let it go by. I would take MASSIVE action to make it work. I would be bold and brilliant and I would take risks.

Then I started analyzing my life and I realized that my biggest achievements did not look like ‘wonderful opportunities’ when they presented themselves. They looked like a lot of work with a feasible, yet highly improbable, possibility of success. I took action more out of curiosity, enjoyment and a sense of obligation. But never once did I feel that this was it! Actually every time I had a ‘good feeling’ about something or someone, things never quiet worked out the way I expected.

Maybe you can relate to this as well… Have you always recognized and seized the opportunity when you saw it?

Before you find a definite answer, let me tell you one story:

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I have a question for you – is there a difference between intentionally hitting your toes on the dinner table leg or your friend pushing you and then hitting your toes on the dinner table?

As it turns out, the later scenario is a lot more painful than the first one.

Psychologists have done numerous experiments and found out two things about pain:

1. It tends to decrease if our body expects it. For example, let’s say that you are running through a wood and are getting slapped by tree branches as you run. The first impulse of pain will be the strongest one, but then your body will adjust to it and the pain signals will decrease to the point where you no longer notice the branches slapping or scratching your skin.

2. It tends to escalate when we believe someone is hurting us on purpose. When we think that someone does something with the intention of hurting us, our pain signals shot through the roof each time we get hurt. We do not get accustomed or learn to ignore this kind of pain.

Just think of the times when you found yourself infuriated or heartbroken because you believed that another person has said or done something to hurt you on purpose (even when this was not true).

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It is funny how through reading inspirational stories we often make discoveries about ourselves. I mean we hear all the time about importance of following our heart and staying true to ourselves, but this advice often sounds too cliché to be taken seriously.

Recently I read a great story that made me look at the same concept from a different perspective.

It went like this:

“One day an old Emperor from the Far East gathered together all the young people in his kingdom and announced that one of them would be his Successor. He gave each of them one seed and asked them to go home, plant it, water it and come back the following year with what they had grown. The next Emperor would be chosen judged on the plant that they brought with them.

A year passed by and all the young people came back to the palace with beautiful plants and flowers, except for one little boy. He was standing at the back with an empty pot, his head low. Some of his friends openly mocked him, a few felt sorry for the poor guy. But everyone was hoping that his plant would catch the Emperor’s eye.

Finally the Emperor arrived. He scanned the room, congratulated everyone on the beautiful and exotic flowers that they had grown, when he suddenly spotted the boy with the empty pot. He walked up to the boy, took his hand and declared “Behold your new emperor!”

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