Should a person grab every opportunity possible?

One thing I have learned over the years is to seize every opportunity I can. Sometimes one cannot because of conflicts with other opportunities, but for the most part after 56 years I have only regretted things (jobs, friends, women, fun, work) I did not pursue.

Fresh things help a worn out stressed tired person stay fresh. It only takes one good nights sleep and a healthy diet to have the energy. Be open to new things! Date that girl! Try that food! Go on that trip! Switch careers!

I’m going to say no. You (or anyone) need to think about the opportunities – and choose the right ones, the good ones, the ones that make sense based on what you are doing and where you are in life.

Sometimes saying ‘no’ is a good thing, because it clears the path for something else.

I’m certainly not saying that you should pass up everything that comes your way. Not at all. But be wise and selective.

How can you possibly say yes to everything? A girl asks you on a date and you’re already dating and happily in love. No. Someone head hunts you for a job that pays less and looks worse than the job you’re in. No. Two invitations to separate events on opposite sides of town on the same night. No.

But if what you’re really asking is “should I network at every given opportunity, say yes as much as possible to every new experience, and gobble up all the fish in the sea?” then I say pace yourself. And of course it all boils down to how vacuous or meaningful your dreams are!

As a somewhat non-opportunity-grabbing female, I say yes. I think it’s one of those important life goals that we should all set out to achieve. Learning to take some risks and do things you’ve been conditioned to say no to. Common sense applied, of course.

No. If you say yes to everything, you are bound to end up disappointing someone down the line, because you’ll be too tired, not qualified or overbooked to fufill your duties/promises/obligations.

Also, the more you say yes, the more you will be expected to do things for other people, whether you want to or not, and when you simply cannot do something, after having said yes so many times, people will not be happy with you.

Plus, not all opportunities are created equal.

I’ll compare the answer I’m about to post to something along the lines of what Carl Sagan has said, about how you can’t read every book out there so the key is to read the right ones. The same is true here with your question so I’ll answer no here. Trying to conquer everything in your path is not a wise choice in my opinion. The key is to find what you like and stick to that, so I tend to pick and choose which opportunities that I’ll take seriously, and which ones that I’ll pass up. This is a question that is so situational, and with many variables, that one can’t possibly give you a straight answer to here.

No. You grab the opportunities that are good for you. You generally barely even have to think about this. Or at least, I feel like I never had to think about it. It was always obvious to me what was me and what wasn’t.

Generally, the opportunities I have accepted are those I have gone after. Occasionally some opportunity will show up unsolicited. Usually they have been things I wanted to do. When they have not been what I wanted, I had no problem turning them down, mostly. I don’t really want to waste my time.

But I don’t have a career or a life path I feel I have to follow. Life, for me, is more about grazing in a field than about doggedly pursuing a single path. When I find something I really like (like fluther), I’ll still with it for as long as I like it, but I don’t feel like I have to stay forever, and when the time comes, I will go elsewhere.

Of course not. Only the ones that interest you, that you have time for, that further your life goals.

I have seen many a good hearted person crash and burn from doing too much. Often that persons S/O and or kids will suffer from the “doer” always doing and there does reach a saturation point and a point where the price is too big a price to pay for taking on these opportunities.

No. Some of them are just the wrong thing to do.

No. Opportunities come with opportunity costs. That is, every decision you make closes off other possibilities. If you always take the first opportunity that comes along—which is the logical consequence of taking every opportunity as it comes—you’ll find that the opportunity costs wind up being far more expensive than you wanted. Be patient. Take the good opportunities, not the easy ones.