You Win Some, You Lose Some...

_{Anna Tarazevich}

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Opportunity comes but once, as they say. And when it’s gone, there is no coming back. As Poco Lee would sing, Otilo!

Life in general is a series of opportunities, both the ones we see and the ones we don’t. The ones we take and the ones we overlook. Opportunities are all around us, and it is up to us to decide what we want to use them to do. They come in different forms and they have different time durations in which they stay, but you can agree with me that once their time is up, it is only a miracle that will bring them back.

And then, there are opportunities that are meant to be taken, depending on who we are as individuals, our upbringing, and our beliefs. And there are opportunities we should just totally ignore. A person with high values will turn down the opportunity to engage in anything that would be illegal or unethical, it doesn’t matter if the opportunity will make them rich. In the end, the price they get to pay may be on the high side.

As for me, there are opportunities I’ve lost over the years. And one of them stands at the forefront of my memory.

_{Cottonbro Studios}

The year I got admission, while I was still at home doing basically nothing while preparing for my Post UTME, I was kind of active in church activities. I was a member of multiple societies and as such, I always had reasons to be in church

And if you are a catholic, then you know that the parish is seldom empty. There will always be someone to hang with. You can just go there to relax and have chats with friends or even play football. That was what we used to do back then, spending as much time as we could in the church. The good old days…

One day, I was supposed to meet up with my friends but something came up and I couldn’t make it to church that day. What came up? I needed to get to the gas depot in my area and refill our cylinder. But I didn’t have any money, so I had to wait until my Mom returned from work. She did that evening, just around the time I should have been meeting up with my guys. And by the time I bought the gas and returned home, it was already too late. And I stayed home.

The next evening, I went to church, but I was the only one from my clique present. I was alone for more than an hour before they came. They all came in together and I could see they were not coming from home. When I asked what was up, their response shocked me.

_{Andrea Piacquadio}

It turned out that the previous day, they had been approached by one of our women leaders. She had a job proposition for them. She needed seven people immediately for a job that would pay N20,000 for six weeks. The job was simple, it involved taking a survey in an area and compiling the results. She just needed seven people to assist her and she would pay them weekly. They tried calling but I didn’t pick up my call(I didn’t take my phone to the gas depot). Besides, she was in a hurry and couldn’t wait. At that time, the money was huge!

I couldn’t believe my ill luck. The very day I could have gotten a job was the day I had to skip church. It made me sad for a while, but I got over it. After all, it was not my fault. I had to go and buy gas. What happened was beyond my control so I was not going to let myself have regrets. And till today, I still don’t regret what happened.

On the flip side, the opportunity found I want to talk about also happened in church.

One Sunday, shortly after we got a new piece of land, the priest called on parishioners to come over the weekend to help clear the overgrown weed. He urged that we all come with our farm implements as there will be a lot of grass clearing.

_{Julia Volk}

I went that Saturday mostly because it was the weekend and I had nothing else to do. Besides, my guys would also be there so it would be enjoyable to an extent. So, we worked that day, clearing the grass. By the time we were done, we were waiting for refreshments as usual. A little chilled coke and warm biscuits to settle the stomach so we could return home.

To our surprise, we were given refreshments and some money! Each of us that came was given N3000 that day. And there were about twenty of us. We were overjoyed because we have not expected this at all, we just came to do it because it was our church and we had been called. I’m sure the Priest’s plan was that we would go back and tell everyone about the money we received and it worked. We told everyone we could about it. And the next time he called for help to clear the church, the church was so full, it was as if a mass was going on. But he never paid for it again.

That was a one-time thing and I benefitted from it. I know this particular opportunity might not sound like much, but what I used that N3000 to do is what made it worth it. It is something I did then that is helping me steadily to this day. But that, my friend, is a story for another day.

Whenever opportunities come, we should take them. We never know where they would take us. But if we feel it’s not for us, then we should go with our gut and leave them be.

So we don’t regret it.

_{Helena Lopes}

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_{Thank you for reading. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below, I would love to know what you are thinking. Till we meet in the next post.}

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_{This post is inspired by the second topic of this week which is Opportunities Lost, Opportunities Found. Feel free to take part.}

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