Tightrope: Opportunity is all around, if you pay attention

— -- Many of us are so preoccupied in our "busyness" that we miss many opportunities. We move through our days noticing very little of our surroundings. And yet, opportunity and valuable information and inspiration abound in our environs.

Information and inspiration are all around you. They come in the form of books, classes and conversation. They are present in our immediate surroundings if we just take the time to pay attention.

Opportunity can even come to you by eavesdropping. A friend of mind told me a story about a guy I will call David. Let's take a look at how it worked for David.

David hadn't gone to his favorite diner to get rich; he went simply to have lunch. But he did strike it rich. David was sitting at a table in the diner, waiting for his food to be served. He was lost in thought, trying to decide what he was going to do with his life.

He was thinking of getting married and starting a family, which meant that he would soon have additional responsibilities.

He worked as a machinist and was a part-time inventor; but he longed for his own business, one in which he could use his talents as a designer. As he pondered his future, he overheard a conversation.

Two men were talking at the next table. It became apparent that they were both building contractors.

Their discussion became more heated as they began to vent their frustrations. Both were experiencing delays in completing their projects because the parts that they needed weren't available. According to the conversation between the men every company made their own unique product and none ever seemed to have the required items in stock.

Because the parts were not interchangeable, the men had no option but to wait until they could receive the shipment of items that they needed. At first David was only dimly aware of what was being said, but he began to listen more closely.

David had always pictured himself as the inventor of the next great gadget, which would bring him fame and fortune. Later, as David thought about the conversation that he had been drawn into hearing, an idea slowly began to take shape in his mind.