Accept Responsibility

There are possibilities for us literally everywhere. Recognition of them

is one thing, but then you have to accept the opportunity. This is
active virtue. You have to step through the door and act. Are you
ready?
Do you accept the offer, the opportunity?
We invite opportunities and set the stage for action by our choices,
our study, our concentration and commitment. But sometimes, no
matter
how prepared we are, no matter how much we want something, no
matter
how much we recognize that this could be our big break, we fail to
accept
the opportunity before us, perhaps because we’re afraid of rejection or
failure.
As actors know, you cannot get the part if you never audition. For
years
I wrote in spiral notebooks, longing for the opportunity to have an
editor
discover my potential. One evening, as I was dancing at a poolside
party at
a tennis club in Connecticut, a senior editor from Reader’s Digest,
Robert
O’Brien, a tennis acquaintance, cut in to dance with me. We discussed
my interest in being a writer and someday being published. “If there is
ever anything I can do to help you as a writer,” he said to me, “please
let
me know.” Several years later, Bob O’Brien became my editor at
Reader’s
Digest and excerpted a chapter from my fi rst book.
One of the saddest thoughts is to never have discovered an
enchanted

garden because you never tried to reach the entrance to open the
door.
It is sad to think what might have been. We must always open doors
knowing that there will be great possibilities awaiting us when we do.
All experiences deeply lived, no matter how much we struggle, are
opportunities to learn. The greatest loss occurs when we don’t expose
ourselves to opportunities because we may be afraid of failure.
Somehow
we find inner strength when we persevere courageously. When we
don’t
try, or we give up too easily, we’re turning our backs on the door that
only
we can open. I don’t believe many of us really know how great we are
in
potential. We should expect more from ourselves. When we do, we
bring
out more from the vast reservoir of possibility that is in us all the time.
Our great task as human beings is to grow into fully expressing our
powers and capacities. There is always so much more we can draw
out
of ourselves. There is a tendency among many of us to busy ourselves
with “this and that,” to fill our calendar with obligations, and to
commit
to responsibilities that are not of our choosing that make us believe
something bigger, better, and more extraordinary is not possible.
Leave time each day to do what you want to do to prepare yourself
for great opportunities. Grab the golden ring. Don’t hold back,
reticent,
waiting for extraordinary opportunities. Watch for the little
opportunities
right now at hand. You’re at a reception and meet someone who tells
you
of a job opening in your field. You go for an interview but are not
chosen
for the position. But the company recruiter and you got along well and
he assured you he will keep you in mind for openings in the future. Or
you read in the local newspaper about a writing contest with a cash
prize.
You submit an essay and cross your fingers. Two weeks later you
receive
a letter congratulating you for your touching piece on your
grandmother,
along with a check for five hundred dollars, a real windfall. Even if you
didn’t win, writing the article at least gave you the possibility of being
published.
You will face disappointments and failures, but you can always be
proud that you accepted an opportunity. Take whatever comes to you
and

make the best, the most good of it. You are accepting the challenge to
be
all you can be. Whenever we do every task the best we can, we
generate
more receptivity to opportunities and discover new talents and
interests
that give us pleasure; we learn, in time, to do more with ease.
Reaching
out and accepting opportunities is what we’re meant to do in order to
live
well.
Most women are overscheduled. When you invite a friend to come
for supper, if you are asked, “What can I bring?” be specifi c—dessert
or
a salad. When that door opens, don’t say, “Nothing.” You may need
and
want help. Someone asks, “What can I do for you?” Perhaps you might
want someone to watch the children while you go to the post offi ce.
Accept
these breaks. We can’t live without help from others. When someone I
love genuinely asks me what he or she can do for me, I’m more
inclined to
tell them now than I was when I was younger and less secure.
Actively pursue what you desire. Look for an opening, a good
possibility for success. Make your own circumstances. Find the
pleasure
and fun where you can. Give life your all. Open gates and doors. Walk
down the passageway. See the garden, experience and smell the
roses. You
can’t imagine all the opportunities that are possible for you. We only
use
a small part of our powers. We’re capable of becoming far more.
Eleanor
Roosevelt believed, “If you prepare yourself . . . you will be able to
grasp
opportunity for broader experience when it appears.”
Accept the gift of opportunity when you find it because opportunities
are fleeting and life is short.