Take a chance…..take the shot……..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","meta":{"article":"I had a great couple of days this past weekend.\u00a0 Just a week ago it was slated to be a rather typical weekend, until it turned into something so much more.\u00a0 My daughter had already scheduled a weekend up in Mackinac with her boyfriend to go visit my son on the island.\u00a0 As it turned out, a friend of ours who works on the historical commission was hosting an event at the fort and invited us up, as she had room at the staff quarters on the island for us to stay.\u00a0 Go to Mackinac Island with our daughter and visit our son and stay on the island for free?\u00a0 Yeah, count us in!\u00a0 We decided to surprise our son by not telling him we were coming up, and yes, he was quite surprised to see us when we knocked on his dorm room door.\r\n\r\nMy wife had more business to address so she stayed up north as I came back with my daughter and her boyfriend.\u00a0 Arriving home, we decided to take the opportunity to take the dogs to the dog park to let them run around after being couped up at home for 3 days.\u00a0 After the dog park we decided to go play tennis for a while, and were completely surprised to see that the HS had completely re-finished the courts since the last time we were there a week ago.\u00a0 After tennis, as we did some food shopping, I saw on Facebook that a college friend who lives in Dallas made a last-minute trip to MI with his family and was having a small gathering.\u00a0 After picking up our truck from the shop, I put my other obligations on hold and headed over to the gathering.\u00a0 What could have been just another typical weekend turned into a great family event at one of Michigan\u2019s greatest parks, individual time with my kids, getting treated to brand new tennis courts, playtime with the dogs, and a surprise visit from a friend I hadn\u2019t seen in about 2 years.\u00a0 But the only reason that any of this happened is I became very opportunistic.\r\n\r\nWe could have passed on the Island visit.\u00a0 We could have come home and just walked the dogs.\u00a0 We could have plopped down in front of the TV instead of going to play tennis.\u00a0 I could have stayed home instead of visiting my friend when I knew I\u2019d be writing this newsletter now after 10pm.\u00a0 However, I guarantee I will remember the opportunities we took advantage of more than the writing of this newsletter or the chores I put off for another day.\r\n\r\nSome opportunities that come at us are big\u2026.go to Mackinac Island.\u00a0 Some are small\u2026.go to the dog park.\u00a0 But all of them are valuable.\u00a0 (It\u2019s actually pretty cool to see how excited our Beagle gets when we say \u201cGo to the park\u201d, as he absolutely knows what that means and will make a bee-line to the car when he hears the work \u201cpark\u201d.\u00a0 So, I guess technically that\u2019s a pretty big opportunity to him.)\u00a0 Big or small, take advantage of as many of those opportunities as you can.\u00a0 Something that might seem small at the time may turn into a memory that lasts a lifetime.\u00a0 Dinner with your spouse.\u00a0 Visiting a friend.\u00a0 A board game with your child.\u00a0 I know I have memories with my parents and my kids that meant the world to me that were white noise to them, but they happened because someone took the opportunity to have an experience.\r\n\r\nBe opportunistic in as many aspects of your life as possible.\u00a0 You never know where an opportunity will lead.\u00a0 We all know each other because I took the opportunity to open a business and you took the opportunity to walk in the door.\u00a0 Dare I say we are ALL better for those opportunities we took.\u00a0 My last little bit of advice is this, and it\u2019s something I had learn myself.\u00a0 When you are at a crossroad and questioning an opportunity, you will have many more people telling you why it won\u2019t work.\u00a0 Block those people out and find the people that will tell you why it WILL work, and HOW it will work.\u00a0 Life belongs to those willing to be bold, those willing to be opportunistic.\u00a0 Be that person.","featured_image":"","featured_image_id":"","featured_article":""},"categories":[],"class_list":["post-406","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n