Not every window of opportunity is worth flying through!

Often when the world seems right for you to press forward with your dreams, enticing winds of change swirl and snap open windows of possibility. Creative feathers have grown into wings able to provide lift off, making it difficult to turn down invitations.

So, you find yourself tantalized with choices—all of which seem like the right direction. Your task is to decide which window to fly through.

How in the world do you do this when every window seems to open up more opportunities to influence and spread your artistic wings? Here are a few suggestions I’ve found helpful:

• Reassess your value system—what are the core beliefs you hold most dear and is the opportunity aligned to them or will it take you away from what you believe to be most important?
• Pray for God’s wisdom—the Lord promises to give us His wisdom:
  • If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him (James 1:5)
• Create a Top Ten Vision Board, or revisit the one you’ve already made—does this opportunity align with the goals you’ve prayerfully listed? The opportunity can be an add on if it fits.

• Listen to your gut—does the opportunity exude peace or stir angst?
  • But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy (James 3:17).
• Learn through contrast—often we discover what we want by doing what we don’t want. So, if you fly through the window and the opportunity feels like a dead weight in your soul, ask yourself, “If this is so wrong for me, what is the opposite that would be right for me?”

Recently, I found myself looking up at multiple open windows. They all seemed like possibilities, having to do with greater influence and impact in the world of art. All resulted from people recognizing my expertise and/or talent and inviting me to fly.

Yet as I reassessed my values and prayed for the Lord’s wisdom, one wasn’t a good match. The commitment went against my values and would have taken me away from what I love most—painting. So, I opted out. Sure, I felt the sting of what might have been, but as soon as I decided, peace flooded my soul, replacing anxiety and uncertainty. I knew I had made the right choice.

So, if you are looking up to several windows of opportunity, try applying the helpful hints I’ve listed above. I’d love to read comments from eager seekers that relate…

 

 

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