Missed Opportunities

I think this is one of the first times that I've written the title before writing the blog. I usually base the title on the substance of what I write, but tonight I wanted to focus on a feeling that hit me in class this evening: regret. Regret from missed opportunities.

So this past summer I've been very positive. So positive, in fact, that I've convinced myself that I've changed my outlook on life, and, who knows, maybe I have. I haven't had any problems recently, life is good, love my job, love my friends, love this smoked salmon and rice I'm eating right now, and I love what I'm looking to do for a career. The thing is, I think I'm loving without action (morality: an active response to the love from God). In a sense, I feel like I've been admiring the beauty, admiring the good things in life, but at the same time, I've been standing still. There have been far too many opportunities that I have let pass this summer. One of them, being personally important to me, was hanging out with my Uncle Randy and my cousins, Zack and Chelsea, and getting to know them better. I have a lot of family members, but there are very few that I've been able to relate to in my life (Uncle Bob, Uncle Carmelo, Aunt Shelle, Chelsea, and Uncle Randy). Only one of them is remotely close to my age (Chelsea who's in her mid-20s), and I know very little about them. Missed opportunity this summer.

Next missed opportunity: writing a script. The beginning of summer I was telling Charmaine that I was totally set for writing a script and finishing it by the end of summer. So much free time and the only fruits of my labor was an unfinished outline and character bios. This would have been a great time to express my creativity and see if I really had what it took to write something that could be used as a play or movie. Missed opportunity.

Filming my own movie (backyard brawl, a serious movie, etc.). Yes this is kind of a stretch because I did do my own movie for work (which got high praise from my bosses) and Tony and I worked on the Leaders' Intro for the GL Retreat, and even now I'm editing the Steubenville video, but I feel like none of these are directly mine. They're not something I processed, filmed and produced using my own creativity with no restraints. Missed opportunity (kinda).

Big missed opportunity: making connections for my future career/vocation. Today in class we had a guest speaker: Rick Reiff from the Orange County Business Newspaper. I really should have approached him about an internship in his field. Even though I don't see myself as a journalist, I think it would be a step in the right direction and there weren't people scrambling to come talk to the guy, who seemed very approachable I might add. I don't have the leverage I need right now to make it big. My goal is to be big, so in order to achieve my goal I need leverage. The way I'm going to get leverage is to not pass on the opportunities that present themselves to me and quit waiting for the perfect one to fall into my lap (because quite frankly, I could be waiting forever).

Don't let opportunities pass you by. Carpe Diem "seize the day." But that's not to say that passing on some is a bad thing because in reality, there's only so much you can do. I think the reality of my situation is a mixture of lack of time and laziness. I'm busy, but when I'm not busy, I'm lazy.