Opportunities, Opportunities!

Welcome to the New Year!

Many people use this time of the year as a fresh start of sorts. The new years’ resolution is a popular semi-tradition for many.

Ultimately, though, a lot of people end up falling behind on their resolutions. It’s certainly happened to me. As we get caught up with new responsibilities and obligations, we can start to realize that the goals we’ve set were unrealistic, overly time-consuming, or aren’t sustainable. 

But I’d like to take this opportunity to encourage reflection on what has worked and hasn’t worked– not just for our resolutions, but for all the new endeavors we’ve undertaken over the past year. Just because you failed at something doesn't mean you didn’t take anything from it.

Sure, maybe you didn’t learn to play a new instrument, but maybe when you went to the music store, you stopped for lunch at a new restaurant you now love. Maybe you didn’t manage to run a marathon, but you still went for runs, which is always good for you. Maybe you only got partway through cleaning up your garage but the reason you stopped is because you came across something nostalgic in the clutter that you’re really glad you found.

It can be easy to feel dejected after we decide that we’ve been a failure. But it’s almost impossible to start on a venture and be able to take nothing from it. Maybe it’s just enough that you were able to put in real, genuine effort on something, and just because you didn’t finish something doesn’t mean you didn’t produce something good or even great in the process.

I recently read an article by Joe Padavilla that changed my outlook on a lot of things. Padavilla’s word of advice is to “say yes to everything”. Maybe not everything exactly, but the way to a more rich and fulfilling life, I think, is to take advantage of any opportunities that get thrown your way, especially if you’re a student. There are so many fantastic activities and support programs that are offered by many different educational institutions. And even if you don’t see any on a surface level, you can always do some searching yourself, or ask people you trust for assistance.

There’s also something to be said about assisting others. Just as accepting new opportunities can help you grow, extending a chance to someone that might need it can literally change their life, especially if they don’t have the conventional resources that you might. Our generous benefactors are a great example of this; by funding our outreach programs, they can cause a ripple effect that creates a real positive force in the lives of those we help.

By saying yes to (or giving someone) something new, you can never truly predict exactly where you’ll end up. But at least then you can say you tried, and expanded your own horizons. 

So sign up for that class. Reconnect with that old friend. Apply for that new job. 

Because you can always gain something from it.