An observation of opportunity

Besides being a bit windy, the day is quite nice with the temperature being just below zero, so everything is frozen and the dog doesn't need to be washed after his walks. @smallsteps and I dropped by the park on the way through so that she could play a little outside as for the last week, we have been predominantly house-bound. Even she noted how strange it is that there was no one in the park. There was a little bit of the "nuclear holocaust" feeling hanging in the air.

I spend a lot of time thinking about a lot of things, but the general direction I have is toward what the world could be like in the future, as that is where we are headed and, that is where my daughter will have her opportunities and decisions to make. The number of opportunities is far less important than the quality of opportunities available.

Businesses are always looking for leads for example, but it doesn't mean that they need a lot of leads if what they have available can be converted into quality business. The funnel in is important and then, the filters to grade the quality of the opportunity to sort them into where the investment to nurture or not can be effectively made. If there are many, trying to focus on all leads simultaneously will spread resources too thin and if there are too few, one has to chase all without being able to pick and choose for quality.

Over-choice is a problem in our world as it tends to split our focus and spread our attention far too thin. Then there is the problem of how attractive things are made to look, despite their real value to our lives. Because we will generally do what feels good over what is good for us, there is a risk that we spend far too much time on what doesn't generate anything real for us.

Since my daughter was young, I have tried to instill in her the concept and practice of observation and patience. She is very observant and for a three year old, relatively patient. However, what she does lack at the moment is the seizing of opportunity, as she tends to hold back if slightly uncertain. This isn't an issue at this stage, but I know what a life can be like when choosing passivity over activity, even when what one wants is within grasp.

I do not believe that I as a parent have a very large effect over my daughter's personality, but I do think that small affects can be made just through opening of experience - quality opportunities. A lot of the opportunity is through setting the expectations of life - that essentially, no one is entitled to anything whatsoever.

At least from a level of nature.

We as humans can impose laws for things like standards of living and access to various services, but nature doesn't care about any of this - it is totally objective, because it is mindless. For nature, every moment is a surprise.

This is why so many of the philosophers talk about living in the moment as much as possible, as it allows a person to behave like nature, carrying in the resources from the past, but completely sensitive to what is happening now. It is a difficult position to hold for any period of time however, as we as humans have the ability to consider and imagine the past, present and future. I say imagine the past and present, because even though we experienced and are experiencing it, we can only ever do that through the filters of ourselves.

The problem with being able to hold these three positions is that we can create conflicting beliefs on each, which means that what we have, what we are doing do not lead us to where we want to go. Even though we can believe we are doing the right thing now, our beliefs are built on what we know from the past and that doesn't necessarily align with what we want to accomplish in the future.

It all seems a bit confusing, doesn't it? And I think this is why so many of us choose to avoid delving into these areas at all and with so many other attractions vying for our attention, there is a constant source of opportunity to keep us occupied. But, is what keeps us busy quality opportunity, or is it just an overload of choice - a constant stream of noise in the guise of information and importance.

Whatever it is, I hope that my daughter is able to find her balance and take the time to observe and grade opportunities, then jump in when she identifies what is truly valuable to her.

As long as there is life, there is opportunity.

Taraz
[ an original ]