Now You See It

     On my walk yesterday morning I was amazed by what I saw.  When I looked out toward Gull Lake I was in awe at the smoothness of the newly formed ice.  It was black and sleek with not a bump to be found.  It stretched on and on and I longed to put my skates on and skate back to my house on the Seagull River.  I don’t think a zamboni could have done a better job at making ice..

     Since I didn’t have my skates I had to walk back to my car and drive home.  With camera in hand I drove back to Trail’s End.  By this time it had started to snow and as I watched the flakes fall from the sky I thought about the perfect ice.

     There it was.  A perfect sheet of ice made by nature.  An opportunity out of no where appeared.  Did I seize the opportunity in that moment?  I didn’t.  I drove home hoping the opportunity would still be there when I returned.  But when I got back, the opportunity was already gone and the ice was no longer perfect. 

     Nature can teach us so many things.  How many times have you had the chance to do something like give your kids a hug only to find that by the time you got off of the phone they were outside with their friends and your opportunity to hug them was lost?  How about a lunch date with a friend you kept putting off only to find out they were now so sick with cancer they couldn’t eat?

     The timing of something may not be perfect but does it have to be? Do the stars need to align in order for you to take action?  The snow was quickly covering the perfect sheet of ice but the perfect ice was still there beneath the snow. 

     Sometimes opportunities are like that old saying, "Now you see it, now you don’t." The next time you see an opportunity, take it, because you never know if you’ll ever get the chance again.

"Striving for perfection is the greatest stopper there is.… It’s your excuse to yourself for not doing anything. Instead, strive for excellence, doing your best."
– Sir Laurence Olivier