Opportunity
by Edward Rowland Sill
This I beheld, or dreamed it in a dream: —
There spread a cloud of dust along a plain;
And underneath the cloud, or in it, raged
A furious battle, and men yelled, and swords
Shocked upon swords and shields. A prince’s banner
Wavered, then staggered backward, hemmed by foes.

A craven hung along the battle’s edge,
And thought, “Had I a sword of keener steel —
That blue blade that the king’s son bears, — but this
Blunt thing!” — he snapt and flung it from his hand,
And lowering crept away and left the field.

Then came the king’s son, wounded, sore bestead,
And weaponless, and saw the broken sword,
Hilt-buried in the dry and trodden sand,
And ran and snatched it, and with battle-shout
Lifted afresh, he hewed his enemy down,
And saved a great cause that heroic day.

A friend recently shared this poem with me. I have since realized many times I wait until the perfect moment to do anything. I wait until the conditions are just right. However, many times, this prevents me from acting. I miss a lot of great learning experiences by not taking the leap of faith. I can’t fathom all of the growth I have missed by waiting for the perfect moment to act. However, I realize that I can’t focus on the past, but only how I will do better in the future. It reminds me of something I heard from Valerie Haugen in a recent leadership seminar, “Success is doing the uncomfortable until it becomes comfortable.”

Anyway, those are my two cents. I would love to read yours on the topic.