I am always honored to have so many people reading and commenting on the topics that I share each and every week, month after month.  This is taken from one of my Facebook lives for what I call "Lunch Time Chat with Allie."  I do it every Thursday at 12:30 EST.  If you want to check it out. 

I want to cover a few important things that are very relevant to our world today and what we are experiencing at this time in life.  It is hard to keep a positive perspective on who we are and what we do & it isn’t easy to stay positive with so much negativity being spoken at such a large volume everywhere around us on a daily basis and I mean everywhere.

My first topic is about “Squandering opportunities” and how we justify doing so, as well as “The Law of impermanence.” Let’s make this an active conversation so feel free to comment below with questions or anything you want to say.  The only thing I ask is that you stay positive and respectful to everyone on the post.  Just write your thoughts and questions and I will do my best to address them.

Let’s first start off with the topic of “Squandering Opportunities.” This all stems from a quote that I posted on social media. 

“Opportunities are granted to those actively looking.”

Now before we go into my thoughts on this, let’s talk about what an opportunity is.  Some of you may be saying, please don’t waste my time, because I am fully aware of what the word opportunity means. However, I am not talking about the literal definition.  I am speaking about the mental connection to the word.  Here is what I mean by that.  To me an opportunity can be something positive or negative. It could be something you are familiar with or something you are not so familiar with.  We can see good and bad things as opportunities around us all day long. 

So with the mindset that everything is a lesson, or an opportunity & we will always benefit from everything that is put before us.  I know to some this may be that old Cliché.  Yeah, everything is a lesson!  Some may be saying “what if I am tired of always having a good perspective and dealing with bad things and pretending that they are a good lesson for me?” Maybe I just want to have some good luck or have it most of the time.

Luck is really non-existent in reality. If you look at life from a more spiritual mindset, you can call this Karma or destiny.  What you are supposed to receive due to your actions or past actions good or bad you will receive. 

So how do we look at negative things that have happened to us as a lesson?  That is a great question.  Oh by the way, you don’t have to kid yourself; & pretend to feel good about everything.  But it is all about thinking beyond that moment, or thinking about the future. 

Let me tell you a story about when I was training in Japan.  It was the middle of January and there was snow everywhere. The snow just started to become slush, that melted cold wet snow.  Every day I would ride my bicycle to go train, which was about a two mile ride to my teachers house from my apartment.  I would put my gi in my back pack with my belt and note book, and then ride wearing my tabi in my sneakers and my gi pants and jacket.

There was a huge bridge that any one in Noda knows.  It is a commercial thin bridge with very little space for pedestrians and bicycles. Cars zip by at 50 – 60 miles per hour and I would have to ride across it in order to get to my teachers dojo and home.  At the very end was a deep downward slope and hill. I could pick up some serious speed on it and cruise for the next few hundred feet without peddling. 

To my surprise at the bottom was about 10 inches of slush and water a literal lake.  As I lifted my feet off the pedals not to get soaked, holding my umbrella with one hand and my other on the handle bars, I coasted through the lake.  Just at that moment and I could see it in his eyes a very sadistic truck driver looked at me and veered out of his lane into the puddle and no joke laughed as he covered me in slush from head to toe.  I was cold, soaked and very annoyed. 

I arrived at Soke’s house and I knocked on his door. He answered and came out on to the landing and stood under the overhand, with a hot cup of Ocha – Japanese Green tea. I was dripping wet and you can actually still see the snow and slush on my body.  I spoke in Japanese to Soke Tanemura and Said “Waroi Otenki Des ne.”  he looked at me with a puzzled look. I then spoke in English because I thought my translation may be incorrect.  I said “it is a terrible day.”  He looked at me again with a puzzled look and said “to me it is a wonderful day.”  I of course thought to myself with an inner voice I said “of course you are dry with hot tea and I am freezing and soaked. For you it is a wonderful day, for me not so much.”  He then went on to point at an empty rice patty.  He said “this is a rice patty and I feed my family for the year with the yield we get from that rice.  The rice grows with plenty of water, so this snow, this rain is a sign from god. So it is a great day for me.” 

So after our conversation, I had an extreme change in perspective.  It really all depends on how deep you want to go, to find the good. It is not always about the lesson but about shifting perspective and sometimes looking at it from a different person’s perspective.

Continued in a few days on the Law of impermanence.