Today’s random quote comes again from Lucille Ball. I have several hundred quotes in my database of quotes by women so the odds of getting TWO Lucille Ball quotes in the same week are pretty scarce. Maybe Lucy’s trying to tell us something…
“Luck? I don’t know anything about luck. I’ve never banked on it, and I’m afraid of people who do. Luck to me is something else: Hard work — and realizing what is opportunity and what isn’t.” ~ Lucille Ball
My friends and I have a little pet phrase we say when one or the other of us doing something a little crazy or expecting some dramatic result. We say, sarcastically and with eyebrows raised, “Good luck with that.” Luck doesn’t exist. Sure, you can be in the “right place” at the “right time” but opportunity isn’t going to knock unless you are expecting her to show up. Working hard towards a goal is the fastest way to invite opportunity into your life. Sitting on your duff and expecting life to hand something over to you is absurd. Work hard, work often and opportunity will come.
I believe it was Thomas Edison who explained “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” Boy was he right. And so is Lucille when she tells us we must realize what is opportunity and what isn’t. So many options are available to us today that it is often difficult to determine the good from the bad. So many rabbit trails, so little time… This is where goal setting comes in to play. Knowing what you want, who you want to be and where you want to be can help you filter out the distractions that turn out to be rabbit trails. (Rabbit trails are bad. Remember Alice in Wonderland? She followed the little white rabbit and look what happened to her.) You have to look for and recognize the gritty overalls – those are your true opportunities.
