Part VII: Opportunities
Life is more taking opportunities than receiving gifts.
Finding opportunities is easy; converting them into successful outcomes is the hard part. Beating cancer is achieved more by aggressively taking advantage of its weaknesses than by hiding passively behind defenses it will persist in overcoming.
––John Roberts
The opportunity is often lost by deliberating.
Publilius Syrus
Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die.
—Gilbert Keith Chesterton
Too many people are thinking of security instead of opportunity. They seem more afraid of life than death.
––James F. Byrnes
No longer forward nor behind
I look in hope or fear;
But, grateful, take the good I find,
The best of now and here.
––John Greenleaf Whittier
It has been my philosophy of life that difficulties vanish when faced boldly.
––Isaac Asimov
Hope is not blind optimism. It's not ignoring the enormity of the task ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path. It's not sitting on the sidelines or shirking from a fight. Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it, and to work for it, and to fight for it.
––Barack Obama, Victory Speech, Idaho Primary, January 3, 2008
We are told that talent creates its own opportunities. But it sometimes seems that intense desire creates not only its own opportunities, but its own talents.
––Eric Hoffer
An opportunity is the vision of something new, a chance to improve the future. But, it usually requires some special effort to convert the possibility into reality. As we look forward from our cancer situation, there may be many opportunities to correct our illness, enhance the quality of life, and change our attitude. But, we have the problems of dealing with something terribly new and managing alternatives and choices about which we are poorly informed and subject to distracting emotions. Part of our cancer-fighting skill is the ability to choose and supervise the best opportunities and results with the help of experts and loved ones and despite all the surrounding difficulties.
The diagnosis of cancer suddenly cracks open doors to new life opportunities, while farther down the hall darkness looms. Cancer concentrates our mind on taking better care of our bodies; it helps us put the past behind and build new attitudes and relationships; it motivates us to make the best of every day, finding new ways to live in and love the world. This requires the suspension of regrets, worries, and fears, to be replaced by positive thoughts and activity. The relative strength of each determines who wins.
Opportunities are not always obvious. Sometimes we have to dig them out of a myriad of choices, and make difficult decisions about whether they are right and we can marshal the personal and outside resources we will need to attempt them. Later in life, there is no time to waste on misguided endeavors. Big decisions must be right ones, and we must get good advice to supplement our courage.
A Chinese client of mine in Europe once responded to my urgent investment advice: “It is better to lose the opportunity than the money.” Yes, opportunities are often plentiful, and risky because of lack of certain information. Choosing the right one among many may require deep digging and decisions based on limited information. Treating cancer is often a series of steps, moving to new treatments as old ones fail. There are many areas that lack complete information. We may need patience to await the completion of trials or the results of current medication before making the next decision. Opportunities are wonderful, but the process of bringing them to success is often a very ragged one.
