As such a thoughtful part of her gift for my birthday, my friend Jennifer gave me this incredible little book called, “Grit & Grace” – uncommon wisdom for inspiring leaders designed to make you think. Not only is the book aesthetically pretty, it’s full of beautiful words, the hard-won wisdom and stories, of ninety women with trailblazing careers fueled by purpose and passion.
In simply opening the gift, I felt known and loved.
If you know me personally, you know I’m hard to buy gifts for. Gifts are genuinely not my thing. I’m a quality time and physical touch girl, all the way. Come sit with me on the couch in jammies. Road trip with me on an unplanned exploration. Create time and space to just “be” together without anyone needing anything from me. . . that is totally my jam. And it’s obviously, not an easy gift to give.
But this little gift surprised me.
When I cracked it open this morning to begin exploring its wisdom, I caught myself taking pictures of several of the pages. I wanted to remember to come back to them. (Apparently my modern-day version of earmarking, to keep the book looking beautiful.) When I read this quote, and then Susan’s brief story, I knew this was the focus of our time this morning.
“Rarely are opportunities presented to you in a nice little box with a yellow bow on top. ‘Here, open it, it’s perfect. You’ll love it.’ Opportunities – the good ones – are messy, confusing, and hard to recognize.” ~ Susan Wojcicki
Susan’s story is that she rented her garage to a couple of computer science students who ended up starting Google right there under her roof. While four months pregnant with her first child, she took a giant leap to quit her job at an established tech giant, to join Google as their first and only marketing person. It was messy. It wasn’t a sure thing.
The rest is obviously history.
I doubt you have a couple of computer science students renting your garage to bring in extra cash today. But it’s probably safe to guess you have some circumstances in your life that are messy, confusing, and hardly recognizable as “opportunities”. Maybe you’re working an extra job, taking care of a loved one unexpectedly, parenting a child who requires a lot of extra grace, or feeling compelled to do something different with your time, but can’t see a clear path forward.
It’s likely you’re surrounded by opportunities.
Opportunities surround you everyday, but they are easy to miss if you’re looking for the perfect packaging. If you’re looking for a clear path from point A to point Z, with a money back guarantee that it will all come together easily, you’re going to miss it for sure.
Instead, look at the messy and confusing circumstances in your life, and choose to see them as opportunities.
Choose to see the way you’re growing.
Choose to see the empathy and compassion you’re gaining.
Choose to look for new ways to serve in this season.
When you begin to look for opportunities in the mess, it changes what you see.
to more love,
Crystal
P.S. This is the goal of our casino-style “You’re in Luck GNO” – learning that luck is really all about that moment when preparation meets opportunity, and that having the wisdom to see the “opportunity” is essential. It’s not to late to join us for the fun!
