Opportunities Abound

Do you feel like right now is a great time to be alive and opportunities abound? Because I do. I feel so blessed every day to be able to experience everything that life offers on a daily basis. We are living through an unprecedented event, maybe not in history, but in my lifetime. I used to watch movies such as The Andromeda Strain and The Omega Man in which an unknown virus began killing humans. COVID-19 has created vast changes in how we work and live. It has devastated small businesses and left millions unemployed. As each day passes we get closer to “flattening the curve” and it will be interesting to see what the world will look like once everything starts opening up.

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It is said that adversity creates opportunity. Many people took advantage of the opportunities created during the Great Depression and became millionaires. Michael J. Cullen changed the retail landscape by creating the modern supermarket. He struck out on his own in 1930 and two years later his stores, King Kullen Grocery, were taking in more than $6 million in revenue. Charles Darrow, after the crash of 1929 was unemployed. He spent a few years perfecting a little parlor game that eventually became known as Monopoly. In 1932, Howard Hughes formed the Hughes Aircraft Company and built that into a major defense supplier. He was worth billions when he died in 1976.

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While many people suffered, others took advantage of being unemployed and turned ideas into businesses. They saw the opportunity created by the Great Depression. Can you see the opportunity created by the current pandemic? It’s out there, opportunity is always out there, you just have to be able to see it. When you see it, you then have to act on it. In my post titled, The Wonderful, Awesome Power of Music, I wrote that the best time to act on something is right now. You need to take advantage of this great opportunity to decide what you want to do, why do you want to do it, and begin doing it right now.

My oldest daughter is studying kinesiology and exercise science in college and is becoming a personal trainer who will one day open up her own gym. She was researching the various certification courses, prices, and the length of time it takes to complete the course. After she explained what she found, she asked me which one I would take. I told her my choice and her reply was, one takes six months to complete, won’t that interfere with my college classes? I told her that it might but that’s why time management is so important. I said that if you’re going to do something then start it right now, not tomorrow, not next week, not 6 months from now. Start it today, and you will figure out how to successfully juggle schoolwork, work, and your certification.

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For all the youth out there, I just want to say that we are living in the greatest time in our history. You can carry it around the world at your fingertips. Everything has sped up exponentially, from communication with other people to become wealthy. I used to have a little box I would wear on my belt called a pager. If someone needed to talk to me they would dial a certain number and the little box would vibrate. I would see the number of the person that wanted to talk to me. My little box would almost always only vibrate when I was nowhere near a telephone. Most of the time it was when I was in my car driving somewhere. There was no way to return the phone call through the little box therefore I would have to find the nearest thing we used to call a payphone. These were telephones that were spread throughout the city and you had to insert coins in order to make a phone call. Once I found a payphone, I would then have to scrounge around looking for coins to call the number on the little box. All this, finding a payphone, parking my vehicle near the payphone, getting out of my vehicle, looking for coins, walking to the payphone, and dialing the number, just to be told a bit of information that was probably the most unimportant information in the history of the planet. Now we can walk around with a computer in our pocket, we can search for any question that we have and communicate with anyone throughout the world without having to look for coins. 

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All it takes is a little creativity and you can make money without ever having to spend a day working a job you probably hate. I never would’ve thought that you could make money by videotaping yourself doing something that you do for one day, but people do. I had never heard of ASMR until I saw people making money carving soap or tapping their fingernails and whispering. My favorite though is GRWM videos, this is something we all do every day and people are making money just by videotaping themselves and getting ready. Is this a great time to be alive or what?

The ease at which we can obtain information today presents the greatest opportunity for all of us. You can literally find a step-by-step process to do anything. If you want to learn how to write a blog, there are bloggers who write blogs on how to write a blog. The Art of Blogging has very insightful and excellent tips on blogging. The world is literally at your fingertips, all you have to do is go out and discover it. I’ve always heard people say, “I can’t wait till my ship comes in,” and you might want to write this down, “Your ship has arrived. It is anchored just offshore and all you have to do is swim out to it and get on board.”

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If you enjoyed reading this, go ahead and click on that little star and like it. Share it on social media and definitely leave a comment. I enjoy hearing from everyone. If there is any subject into which you would like to delve into, let me know.

What opportunities have you seen created? Are you taking advantage of them? Let me know in the comment section.

Works Cited:

Sabin, Greg. “10 People Who Made a Fortune During the Depression.” Mental Floss, 12 Aug. 2009, http://www.mentalfloss.com/.

The Wonderful Awesome Power of Music

Music is such a powerful instrument. It can invoke many different feelings inside us. It can make us feel happy, sad, or put us into deep thought. It can inspire us and even transport us back in time by bringing up a memory. It can get your heart beating fast and pumping adrenaline. It can put you in a very relaxed, calm state of mind. Tap into the wonderful awesome power of music.

I was working out this morning and I always listen to music while I exercise. I have a playlist in my phone of several upbeat songs that keep my adrenaline flowing throughout my workout. Today as I started my workout, the first song that came on was, It’s My Life by Bon Jovi. I got this overwhelming joyous feeling in my heart because the words of the song matched perfectly with my life. My life changed dramatically yesterday in a very good way and took all the success I’ve had in the past to a whole different level. I’ve heard the song probably a thousand times before but today I really listened to the words.

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It’s my life

It is just that, my life. I am in total control of what happens in my life based on my reactions to circumstances that happen every day. You are in control of your life. Today many people allow other forces to control them. Many people are living in fear because of the pandemic and the information they are listening to. I choose faith and faith and fear cannot exist in the same place at the same time. Both faith and fear are a choice and you have to choose one or the other. Most of my neighbors can’t believe that my wife and I still go out to eat. They live in fear. Last night we drove to our favorite burger joint and had a great meal. We practiced social distancing, covered our faces, and went to the front door and ordered our meal. We went back to the car and a short time later; they brought our order out to us. We had a wonderful time sitting in the car enjoying our burgers and shakes. It reminded me of our first date almost 30 years ago. We went to a burger joint in Lima, Peru where they brought the food out to you and you ate it in the car. Tap into the wonderful awesome power of music.

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It’s now or never
I ain’t gonna live forever

This is it; it is NOW! Now is the time to make that decision to change your life. I am rapidly approaching what is said to be the fourth quarter of life. I could just sit back and enjoy the next 20 or so years, but that isn’t me. I want to do so much.  I have so many people that I want to help. I want to increase my giving. I want to pass along these lessons to millions and millions of people. And the time is now, today, because just as it says in the lyrics; I ain’t gonna live forever, we are not promised any certain period of time. We are not promised tomorrow, so the time to make that decision to change, to help people, to live your dreams is NOW!

I just want to live while I’m alive (It’s my life)

Life is a beautiful thing. Get out there every day and live it like it’s your last. Dance like no one’s watching and sing like you have the voice of an angel. Do everything that you want to do. Try things that make you uncomfortable. We only have a finite number of days on this wonderful planet, make the most out of each one. Tap into the wonderful awesome power of music.

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My heart is like an open highway
Like Frankie said I did it my way
I just want to live while I’m alive

Open your heart and follow it where it’s leading you. Be in tune with your inner feelings and listen to those little voices encouraging you to do something good. You always know what’s good because it will make you happy when you think about it. Listen to the words of Frankie and do it your way. Your way might not be the only way but it is the best way for you. Go out and live life now while you’re alive because afterward, it’s too late.

The next random song that came on from my playlist was Right Now by Van Halen. I don’t think there are two songs in my playlist that would have had a better impact on me. It just confirmed that all these great things are happening to me right now. I need to make the most of every day. Whenever I hear this song it takes me back to my days in the jungle. I used to carry a Sony Walkman cassette player and earphones as part of my equipment. We had open doors on the helicopters and I would always sit next to the door gunner. I would start playing this song right before the helicopter lifted off. Many times we would fly what the pilots call the “nape of the earth” which is just a few feet above the ground. They would fly right over the river and follow the curves at a very fast speed. It was exhilarating. When I hear the song I’m transported back inside the helicopter to a very happy time for me. We never knew what would happen when we arrived at our objective. Would it be an easy day or would they be waiting for us and we would have to fight our way out? I never felt more alive. Right Now makes me feel alive when I hear it and reminds me that right now is the time to get it done.

Tap into the wonderful awesome power of music. Whatever you want to accomplish, start right now. Don’t wait for the perfect day or time. Don’t wait for the pandemic to be over and COVID-19 to be wiped out.  Don’t wait for tomorrow or next week. Don’t wait until the end of the semester or when you get that big project finished at work. There is no better day than today, so go get it done. IT’S YOUR LIFE – go live it.

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Anxiety (COVID-19)

Anxiety (COVID-19. We are definitely in an anxious time in our lives with the COVID-19 pandemic. It is a time of uncertainty and I don’t know about you but for me, it is difficult to find the facts about what’s really going on. One news agency reports one thing and three more reports something totally opposite. One day we’re “flattening the curve” and the next day this is something that’s going to last for years. I’m as confused as everyone but unlike a lot of people, it doesn’t cause me anxiety. Not a lot has changed for me since the pandemic started and we have been in lockdown. I work from home so that wasn’t a change. My children are away in college so I haven’t turned into a home school teacher. My gym is closed but I have plenty of exercise equipment in my garage so I continue to work out. My wife is home all day as well and I haven’t woken up with her standing over me holding a pillow in front of my face. I can have a tendency to get on her last nerve, as my mom used to say to me. The one thing that I really miss is our weekly date night where we walk to the local restaurants and enjoy a meal. We still have the date night but now we have to call in our order, pull up outside, have them bring our food out, and take it home, it’s just not the same.

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Date Night Now!!

I sympathize with everyone that had to begin working from home, learning from home, and not knowing when their office or school will open up again. I particularly sympathize with the people who had to close their businesses or could remain open but saw a significant drop in their business. It is a very uncertain time in that we don’t know what our society will look like when the pandemic ends. Will jobs be cut as employers try to recoup lost profits? Will sports resume and bring back jobs for the concession workers, security, and ticket scanners? My friend who watches sports 24/7 told me the other day that he just watched a cherry pit spitting contest. He has it bad. In case you were wondering, the winning spit was 47 feet!

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I believe in faith over fear. I believe that the pandemic will end sooner rather than later; that businesses will open and the economy will flourish; that sporting events will begin and stadiums will be packed. The anxiety that has been created by this pandemic is based on uncertainty or fear. The anxiety is usually worse than the actual event. As I’ve said before, I have a fear of heights but I jumped out of perfectly good airplanes in the Army. The anxiety that I felt standing up in the airplane before the jump was much greater than when I jumped/fell/was pushed out the door. When I played football, the anxiety before the game in the locker room was much greater than when the game started. The first time you hit somebody all the nerves go away. I remember one time that I was at an amusement park and my friends wanted to ride the roller coaster. That was the last thing that I wanted to do but I went with them. The anxiety that I had standing in line was so great that I thought I would pass out. The worst part was the slow climb to the top of the coaster. After we started the descent it really wasn’t that bad. Not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be in my mind. Now, I didn’t want to do it again but at least I could check that off the old bucket list.

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How can we deal with this anxiety? How does this affect us or our journey to success? First, it’s all about control. As I said in my welcome post, I am the CEO of ME Enterprises. I control what happens to me, the thoughts that I think, and my actions. You are in total control of yourself, you control what you are thinking, the choices you make, and your actions every day. I can’t control the things that are going on outside of me. You can’t control the things that are going on outside of you, so don’t worry about them. You can’t control the news, you can’t control politicians, and you can’t control the weather. You have 100 percent control over yourself and that’s the only thing that you should be focusing on. I remember hearing someone say, “If you want to change the world, begin with changing you.” There is a great speech you can find on YouTube by Admiral William H. McRaven entitled “If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.” If making your bed makes you feel better, then go make it. That is a success and that will bring more success to you. It is something that you can control whether you do it or not. Something else that you can control is what you watch or listen to. If the news is making you more anxious, turn it off. Have faith that we will come out of this pandemic better than we went in.

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Adversity creates opportunity. The adversity of the pandemic has opened up numerous opportunities for people. People are exercising more. I see more families going on walks together, people are able and have the time to sit down together at the dinner table. For me, I began this year by saying I will get better every day. My life will be better than it was before when the world goes back to normal. The slowdown in my other business has afforded me the opportunity to research and open up this new online business and begin my blog. It has also opened up my mind to the endless possibilities that are out there for all of us. I am a Christian and believe in the power of God. I believe that I was led to create Lessons Learnt by God. God has provided me the opportunity to pass on my experiences in life through this blog. If you believe in a higher power, know that they are in control of what happens in the world and that everything is going to be better. That doesn’t mean that once the pandemic ends that everything will be perfect and bad things won’t happen again. It means that, just like this and everything that’s happened in the past, we will get through it and become better.