Impossible vs. Inconvenient and the element of Personal Choice

As you have read previously, I am attending a webinar this week entitled The Millionaire Affair (http://themillionaireaffair.com/).  Each day we are treated to an interactive presentation from a successful entrepreneur.  I will be writing a summary of yesterday's wonderful speaker, Wendy Moore, in my next post... but first there is something I just have to get out of my head. 

The first day of the series, everything went wrong and yet the experience was wonderful... so wonderful that I wrote a blog post about the unexpected lesson in failure ( http://abysstales.blogspot.com/2010/01/unexpected-lesson-in-failure.html ).  Later that night, I was talking to a friend about my wonderful, positive experience and something happened.  She got very negative and defensive.  Now, I'm not writing about this to bash her in any way... I understand completely where she was coming from (many people fall into the same pattern)... but it's been on my mind ever since and I wanted to get those thoughts out of my skull and into the world where they might be more useful.

What she said (not an exact quote, just the general idea) was, "I saw that webinar event on your Facebook page and wanted to go too, but they scheduled it at such an inconvient time that it's impossible for me to do it because I have to work.  You should tell them that next time they should schedule it at a more convenient time so more people can go."

Impossible... inconvient... and apparently not fair to everyone!   But what I said that night and will expand upon here, is that it was possible for her (and anyone else in the world) to attend and she had choosen not to.  You see, this webinar is an opportunity.  It could have been held on a weekend in a convention hall in Vegas at $1000+ per attendee based on the presenters and the worth of the information they are providing.  Instead, it is being broadcast to a global audience for FREE... online... one hour a day... for 2 weeks.  That's actually a lot more convenient for most people.  It is definately possible to make adjustments in a schedule to accomodate at least one or two of these presentations, even if you can't attend them all.  It is maybe even possible to convince your boss that it would be valuable to them as your employer to alter your schedule a little to let you gain the knowledge these individuals have to share... thus making you a more educated and valuable employee.  It is a personal choice not to even try.

Opportunities come into our lives every day, yet they are usually inconvenient or seem impossible to take advantage of, so we grumble and groan about the opportunity passing us by and how the good life is out of reach for us.  That does not have to be the case.  We each make the personal choice whether or not to make that opportunity a priority.  If it becomes a priority, then we will go to great lengths to rearrange our life to make it a possibility.  Once in opportunity becomes a possibility, we can turn it into the potential for growth and perhaps it will be what you look back on as the opportunity of your lifetime.  One of the biggest differences between those who are living their lives on their own terms and the people that grumble about how unfair things in life are, is the ability to prioritze and choose things based on those priorities.

You make thousands of choices every day on how to spend your time, money, thoughts, etc.  You make these choices based on what is important for you in your life.  Accepting that you have the control over these choices is the first step on the road to making your life what you want it to be.  When an opportunity comes along you need to put it to the test.  Will it benefit you?  Is it aligned with your long term goals?  Is it more important than another obligation you have at that same time?  If it is of equal importance, can you rearrange things to take advantage of both?  Is it perhaps a better opportunity for someone you know (if so... pass it along!!)?  There are many things to consider when an opportunity presents itself but is inconvenient, but the first thing to recognize is it would never come across your path if it was impossible... no matter how inconvenient it may be.  Sometimes you just need to get creative in order to get to the door to open it when opportunity knocks. 

If you didn't take advantage of an opportunity, maybe it just wasn't important enough to your life for you to make it a priority... not every opportunity is right for everyone.  Keep on the lookout for the next one.  In the mean time, get to know yourself and your goals well enough to be able to prioritize the things that are most important in your own life... then you won't be so quick to want to follow someone else's life choices and feel bad when you don't.  We all have to walk our own path in life, and though we may walk together at times, none of us are on the same path.  Find your path and make sure to take advantage of the opportunities that will help you along your way.. no matter how inconvenient or impossible they may seem.

If you found this discussion interesting, you will enjoy a blog post by Derek Sivers.  He will be our presenter on Thursday and posted a blog today about how there are always more than two options.  It follows along the lines of what I have been thinking for the past 2 days...  http://sivers.org/options

What to do with Facebook?!?!

I've had Facebook and MySapce pages for several years for the sole purpose of reconnecting with people who have drifted out of my life for one reason or another.  During the last few months while laid off, I've found myself checking my Facebook page more frequently than I used to.  MySpace has kind of gone by the wayside.  I usually keep the Facebook window open in the background as I'm doing other things on the computer and periodically check in on what's going on in my virtual community of friends.  I've added all kinds of apps... initially to help friends out who needed additional team members... but now I've got one heck of a Farmville farm, a really high score in Treasure Madness, and a really high bankroll on Texas Hold'em Poker, just to name a few.  I don't spend hours on these games (mostly time management games... although they are more like time wasters), but if I add up all the times I pop in to play a quick hand or plant crops I'd probably be horrified!  I enjoy quick chats with old friends and sharing photos and stories, but again... the time really does add up.

So now what?  Since I'm on Facebook so often, I figured I should get more out of the experience and add some content of real value to the site.  I'm working on a new idea... a sort of online reading club and app to go with it.  At least this gets me into the game creation side of things instead of the player side.  I'm hoping this will be a somewhat better use of my time.  I read all the time anyway, so it makes sense that I seek out and bring together fellow readers in an online forum.  What was the famous quote?  I think it goes something like, "You've only really learned something when you've shared it with someone else."  Now is my time to share some of the things I've learned with the Facebook world and learn some new things myself.  It will take a little while to fully flesh out my idea, but I'm hoping people will enjoy it when it's finished. I'll provide a link here when it's done so my blog followers (yes, there are actually some of you out there reading this... wow!)can check it out too.

On a completely unrelated subject, one of my childhood friends is one of the featured guests in a webinar series later this month called The Millionaire Affair (January 25 - February 6).  It should be a very interesting 2 weeks with lots of knowledge exchanged and it's free to sign up.  If it sounds like something you are interested in, you can find out more information here... http://themillionaireaffair.com/ 

I'm also heading out this month (January 28) to see Dr. Wayne Dyer (in the theater, not live).  The event is called Wishes Fulfilled!  To find out more and find a theater in your area click here... http://www.hayhouse.com/event_details.php?event_id=997&utm_id=DYERFB
  If you'd rather listen to Dr. Wayne Dyer on your own time, you can check out his PBS psecials and get his books or CDs at Amazon.  His new book is entitled Excuses Begone! and I'm currently waiting for my copy to arrive. :)

Both of these events fall in line with what I'm trying to accomplish in 2010 and are therefore worth the time for me to attend.  I'm trying to be judicious in how I spend my time and trying to focus on those activities which further my life goals instead of just wasting valuable time.  The Facebook group could lead me into opportunities I'm not aware exist yet... therefore also indirectly accomplishing my goals.  It is said that the true road to success and happiness can be found by following your passion... here's hoping it works!!!