Keep Your Eyes Open For Wonderful Experiences

I really find it quite interesting how we can sometimes learn some interesting lessons about ourselves and indeed life when we least expect it. I am the type of person that if I want to learn about something, I will usually read a book, watch a seminar or listen to an audio program. I have studied for literally hundreds of hours, learning ways to try to improve myself in different areas of my personal and professional life.

In the past when I wanted to learn about success, health, finances, positivity etc, the first thing that I always did was look for a great book that would teach me and guide me how I could achieve my desired goal. I always believed that the best knowledge could be found in books, audio and video programs. While this is indeed true to a large extent, I recently discovered and realized that some of life’s most valuable lessons can sometimes be found right in front of our eyes, but only if we look for the clues. Let me give you an example.

I recently went to a Blogger’s conference in Dublin. I had received an email with details of the conference a few days before the event took place. The conference was going to be taking place near to where I live, the venue was also going to be held in a wonderful building and the list of speakers was going to be really great. The email went on to say how I could enter a competition to win tickets to the full day event if I Tweeted a sentence with a particular #hashtag. The winner would be announced the next day at 3pm. So I sent my Tweet and the following day I refreshed my emails every few seconds after 3pm to see if I had won, but there was no sign of my winning ticket. I checked a few hours later and the tickets were won by someone else. I must admit, I felt quite disappointed.

A few days passed, it was the day of the conference. I woke up thinking how really interesting the conference would have been. It could have been a great chance to meet hundreds of like minded people with the same interest as me and listen to a bunch of great speakers covering topics that really interested me. But instead, I was at home missing out on this opportunity and experience.

An hour or two passed and I said to myself almost out loud “get dressed, get yourself ready and just go!” and I did. I got dressed, left my house and made my way to the conference.

The conference had already started by the time that I got there. The atmosphere was buzzing inside the venue. I could feel the excitement, positivity and really great vibe as I entered the hall. On the stage, speaker after speaker each took total command of the stage while all of the attendees like myself hung on their every word. Notes were quickly written, photos and videos were taken from every angle as ways to capture a memory of the event. The first thing that struck me was the sheer confidence of each speaker. Speaker after speaker, each one of them spoke with passion and confidence about their particular topic and as a result they each held the audience in the palm of their hand. The speakers were so passionate about the subject that they spoke about that they exuded with confidence.

The second thing that really struck me was that I had nearly missed out on this incredible experience and opportunity to meet and connect with some wonderful people because I almost left it up to chance and a competition. I learned a lot of things that day, the two greatest things that I took away from the experience was that the more passionate that you are about something the more confidant that you can become. I also learned not to miss out on anything.

Don’t miss the chance to meet like minded people, don’t miss out on a positive experience, don’t miss out on a new way to learn and grow as a person. What started off as a simple competition in an email, has made me open my eyes and look out for more of life’s lessons in different ways. Also, take action, don’t hesitate or leave it to chance if there is an opportunity to meet with other like minded people, or to experience a great way to learn new things. Not all lessons and knowledge can be found in books or dvd’s. Some wonderful lessons and experiences can happen in unusual ways.
Keep your eyes open, take action and don’t miss out.