Claire responded, “But I want to help. I won’t mess it up….”

Will Julia take advantage of the opportunity to work with her sister? Will she continue in solitude with negative energy toward Claire while she remembers past experiences of Claire knocking over books or pulling clothing from drawers? Julia will have to choose whether or not to open the door…

And so will we. Opportunities are knocking all around us. The relationships we have with those we love need to be nurtured just as the people we meet in the grocery store need our smiles. We choose each day whether we will bless others and ourselves with the opportunity to forgive and be forgiven, to love and be loved, to offer and to receive. Will we ponder on the blessings that come from these opportunities, or will we let the opportunities knock us into a rut where we bury ourselves with feelings of self-pity and malice?

What did Julia do? Well, she took a chance. She let the opportunity in…and now I hear laughter coming from the general direction of their bedroom. How long do you think it will last?

On New Year’s Day, something happened that I usually would’ve allowed to infuriate me.  I let it go.  I worked on flashing my new-found smile.  And I felt lighter.

Then, my twins got sick.  Fevers, coughs, up all during the night (in fact, last night, I felt like I was up every two hours…like nursing a newborn again!!)…and I am still happy.  My smile took a little more effort this morning, but with a little help from my dear husband, I made it happen despite the challenges.  And I am happy now. 

I have noticed many more people walking out and about among our neighborhood (New Year’s Resolutions for health, maybe?).  Florida (as many other parts of the US) is very cold right now–yet the people are out and about fulfilling their goals despite opposition from cold & wind.

I used to think that we received opposition to our new goals or plans to derail us…to challenge us so much that we often feel like giving up on what we really want.  Then, for a time in my life, I thought that opposition was really in place to help us appreciate all the work that we do to acquire a talent, achieve a goal, or receive a particular blessing–so we would know that whatever it was meant enough to us to persevere and accomplish.  Currently, I am of the opinion that opposition gives us amazing opportunities to strengthen our resolve to change.

These opportunities are not always going to be met with perfect courage or positivity.  Sometimes we will still fall short, get sick, or have rough days…but as we see the opportunity to strengthen ourselves through the opposition, we can see our own power to grow and change and become the people we want to be.  We are empowered!

So…would you say opposition in all things…or opportunity in all things?