Guide To Optimistic Opportunism

Claudette Esterine

Are you happy with your life? Is your job somewhere along your desired career path? Does your relationship bring out the best in you? What kind of friends you tend to attract?

Sometimes I go off on a retreat to a park, by a body of water or just sitting on the floor in a quiet corner of Chapter's. I find myself needing this when life seems to be bringing me way more than manageable for me.

In these "by myself" moments, I ponder these questions:

• How do I really feel about what is happening, all bull crap aside?
• The negative emotions that I am having, what are they trying to tell me?
• Does anything need to change for me to feel good again? If yes, what?

By the end of this talk with myself, followed by intense listening, a plan is in place. There are times when the plan will come quickly, at least a first step. Other times, it takes a few hours, days or even months.

What is immediate, however, is being washed in a feeling of optimism.

Read and posted this 'letter' on our Facebook page today:

"Dear Optimist, Pessimist and Realist: 

While you guys were arguing about the glass of water being half full or half empty. I drank it.  

The Opportunist"

Being optimistic is equivalent to having a Pollyana mentality in some people's opinion. The Opportunist has gotten a worse reputation of being selfish. Too bad.

Looking back at my life and assessing my current standing, I grew into optimism coming out of a single parent home. There were many odds stacked against me and no one really to encourage me that all things work together for good. Literally, I motivated myself.

The only clue I got and yes it came from my mother who was far from being a positive thinking person, was that education was key. Relationships, including intimate and interpersonal ones, would fall apart later in my life due to my relentless pursuit of higher education and learning.

Every opportunity for learning, be it formal education or street learning, I grabbed it! To this day I still do and until the last breath leaves my body I will continue to.

Optimism and opportunism go hand in hand - that is what I learned in my 40+ years on this Earth. Think positively and for yourself and seize every opportunity that comes as a result.

Want to be happier? Think positive thoughts about your life right where you are at now. Right there on the cot in the back room of your friend's house. Know that you have all that you need right now in that bowl of macaroni and cheese!

Want a job that uses your gifts, talents and passion? Be thankful for the one you have now that will give you a good reference. Recognize the skills you gained doing all those seemingly deadbeat jobs.

Want a more life-enhancing relationship and genuine friends? Well, first express your gratitude to those who helped you to know what you truly desire. Write them letters. No need to mail them but the act of sharing a blessing with them will improve your sense of freedom to choose again.

Image: judydouglass.com

Drink from Life's glass instead of complaining about the colour of the container! The more you appreciate the contents of your cup, the more and greater will be added unto you.

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Continue to be the optimistic-opportunist today!

Claudette is the Founder of Daughters of Sheba Foundation and Editor of our blog. She is a Jamaican-Canadian, an Independent Distributor of Nature's Pearl and most of all, a Free Spirit.