Friday Feels: I am not throwing away my shot

I’m going to start with a scandalous statement: I am one of those people who had not seen Hamilton until it steamed on Disney+ two weeks ago.

I know, I know, I have Bachelors and Masters degrees in Music and made my career in musical theatre, but I had not seen the show.

Like many, I was blown away at the creativity and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s dynamic story telling.

And since the moment I sat and watched, enraptured in that story, the reverberations of taking my shot have been echoing across the landscape of my mind.

I am not throwing away my shot.

My shot is my opportunity.

People like Hamilton see the world not as something to be reacted to, but something to be actively negotiated with. He saw a universe full of an endless possibility of endings, and he approached each experience with the mindset that every moment is an opportunity to shoot your shot.

I want that mindset. I crave that forward-leaning energy in my life.

Chasing opportunity…

Restless in becoming the fullness of my potential.

I’ve noticed my brain scanning the horizon for opportunity. I have also recognized that I rarely see it unless I’m actively looking for it.

Some opportunities are obvious:

Your manager gives you a quantifiable goal and says this is what I need from you.

A loved one tells you directly and exactly what they need in a relationship.

Those times it’s certainly easier to spot your shot.

But most times opportunity hides in plain sight. And this is usually because of the vantage point of my own awareness, my perspective. It requires that I shift my way of thinking about the situation — but make no mistake, the opportunity — the shot — is still there.

How would my life, my career, my relationships change if I embraced Hamilton’s mindset?

A challenge erupts with a client and now my plans go to shit — but I use that moment to show that I’m capable of changing direction and adapting.

My partner disagrees about the best path forward and one of us has to bend — but I use that moment to grow closer and deeper in love through embracing the chance to compromise.

I’ve been told much of my life that I’m optimistic. But rather than being optimistic, I think I’m actually opportunistic.

And I am not throwing away my shot.

Now, this is not to say that “bad things” don’t happen — they do. But I get to choose how I respond.

And even in the midst of really dark, awful situations I get to choose to use it as an opportunity to practice the ideals, the values that I believe make the world more beautiful and life more sweet.

What would my experiences look like if I demanded to use my shot, regardless of the circumstance?

There’s beautiful serenity in the simple choice to not throw away my shot.