Be willing to explore all opportunities.

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." – Thomas Edison

What a great quote. It certainly explains why so many opportunities get overlooked, right? It is easier to avoid new opportunities than to explore new ones, especially if a lot of effort is involved.

Opportunities may present themselves during a difficult situation or circumstance in your life. Rather than focus on the challenge, step back from the situation and look for the opportunity. It could be an opportunity to connect to a much needed resource. Or it could be an opportunity to reveal something in your character that needs building or strengthening, that will enable you to move forward.

Sometimes opportunities come from some much unexpected places, people or things. Don't be afraid to consider the resources.

In order to walk in your personal greatness, you must be open and willing to explore all opportunities even if they manifest in ways you didn't consider previously.

What happens when most people start to chart their own course, create a vision for their life? They not only focus on the end result — the intended destination, but they also focus on the journey, the road to that destination. They have it all planned out, how A inevitably gets to Z.

So as they start their journey and the road looks different than they imagine or it takes a detour, makes a left when you thought it would make a right, opportunities get missed because they show up contrary to what the person thought would happen.

What I often tell people is that just because your journey or the roads you travel differ from what you may have anticipated, it does not mean that the vision or intended destination is flawed or unreachable. It only means that you have some work to do, opportunities to explore.

So when your road veers to the left or the right, different from what you thought the path would look like, be willing to go through that process, never giving up. That process is one of those necessary occurrences that prepares and positions you for the greatness you have chosen to walk in.

What opportunities have you avoided or neglected to explore because they came from an unexpected source? Are you allowing fear and other personal roadblocks to prevent you from tapping into the endless opportunities around you?

Think about the last time your journey took a detour and presented you with a new set of circumstances that you hadn't anticipated. What did you do? Did you retreat, throw in towel, discard your plans all together? Or maybe you discovered something extremely valuable on that path that propelled or motivated you.

Make a commitment to explore all opportunities that come your way. It does not mean that you have to act on or accept those opportunities. But at least be willing to consider the possibilities, leaving no stone unturned.

With definiteness of purpose
Gwen Thibeaux