Staying Open to Opportunities

“There are opportunities all around us–we just have to notice them.”

When my daughter, Ren, decided to leave college to pursue an acting career, I was not exactly on board with the plan at first. The practical parent in me thought my daughter wasn’t being grateful for the opportunity to attend college with scholarships and she was throwing all of that away.

As a result of pursuing what she was totally passionate about, Ren landed a swing role in Broadway in Spring Awakening.
While she was performing at a nightclub, a Tony Award winning director watched her on stage. The director cast her, without an audition, in the New York City Center play, Runaways.

As I watched my daughter on stage, I thought about how one opportunity lead to another. Here she was, performing in front of nearly 3,000 people with a radiant smile on her face during the final bow.

The next day, Ren introduced us to Joshua De Jesus.

When Joshua tried out for Runaways, he was among a group of over 300 kids vying for a role. Just before his turn, the girl before him sang the same song he picked out and she did a stellar job.

Joshua did not get a call back.

He was crushed, but he so strongly felt he wanted to be a part of this play. Acting was his passion since he was a young boy.

When he left the room, he spied an audition form lying on a desk, filled it out, and confidently strolled into a room with a different group of scouts.

He got the part.

The lesson here…

Be passionately persistent! Don’t give up when there are obstacles in your path. Stay strong in the vision of what you want and stay open to the opportunities that show up.

One opportunity will lead to another…and another.