Do you take chances or do you give things chances?
When you take a chance, you’re choosing to receive something; you’re taking it. You’re actively receiving and engaging with something; you’re viewing a situation as an opportunity. (Note that “Opportunity” has the word “opportune” in it.)
When you give something a chance, you feel like you have something to lose. You’re approaching the situation with reluctance. You’re seeing the things that might go wrong before you see the things that might go right. You’re giving up something, your time, your effort, your dignity, to try to engage with a situation. You’re risking something, giving something valuable away, instead of receiving something at no cost.
A very small change of words, but a pretty distinct difference in connotation. A different attitude leads to a different experience. So how will you choose to engage with chance from now on?
Do you want to risk something or receive something? Give or take?
Both possibilities are available.
A short note:
The definition in the image above is the definition of “opportune” from Google, I just made it cute. Surprisingly, I didn’t choose the words listed as synonyms, those are a few of the synonyms listed on the actual definition of the word, isn’t that cool?!
Auspicious. Heaven-sent. Golden.
(If you’re like me and want to google it to double check, here’s a pic of the google search)
Next time I take a chance, I’m going to remember that it’s an opportune-ity. That it’s heaven-sent, auspicious, and golden, and that I’m allowed to receive it gracefully.
And if you’re really like me, you probably googled it yourself anyway, just to verify the screenshot was real. 😛 (If you did that, we are kindred spirits for sure.)