On Waiting for Opportunity

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” 
― Winston Churchill


So,  my time in Seoul is quickly winding down and I'm faced with the dilemma of "what comes next". At this point in time I have no clear path for the future. The only thing that's known is I will be facing indefinite unemployment when I get back to the states. A part of me wants to sigh in relief and think; "Yay! Unemployment is funemployment! I can relax and act like its all just a really long vacation". But the other part, the reasonable adult part of myself, keeps thinking about it exactly as it is at face value. Unemployment. The lack of employment. The lack of a steady income. The inevitable depletion of my modestly sized savings. Oh shit, oh my! Because I don't want to look at all of this as a black hole on my future I've decided to look at is as a time of opportunity.
I'm a college educated adult with international work experience, that has to count for something on a resume, right? (Oh please network of potential employers, please tell me it counts!) I'm well aware that gainful employment isn't something that comes knocking on your door; its something you go forth and seek. I'm not discouraged by the hard work, effort, countless resumes sent, and countless cover letters written. I'm not even all that discouraged by the often dreaded, "Thank you for your interest in our company; however....." letter that will undoubtedly be sent numerous times. I'm more discouraged by the waiting period. The stagnate waiting period between the first day of unemployment and the day I'm (fingers crossed) granted an interview. For those of you who know me, I hate waiting. Not only do I hate waiting for things, big and small, to happen in my life, I'm really bad at it. I get antsy, jittery, and then finally massively depressed. So, this point of my life will be a big lesson on waiting. Not waiting in the sense where I sit around on my butt all day waiting for something great to happen for me; but waiting because I know sometimes the best opportunities are the ones you cannot force to adhere to your time table. As the old saying goes; patience is a virtue. With that said, I want to finish this blogg post with a few of my favorite quotes on opportunity and patience:

“A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.” 
― Francis Bacon,
“We often miss opportunity because it's dressed in overalls and looks like work”
― Thomas A. Edison
“Sky is not a limit for me; because I have no limit for myself in life. Because life is a world full of risk taking and possibilities. No matter how hard or easy life is; I will always find a way to enjoy myself; even in the mist of circumstances; because problems is a sense of adventure in sheep's clothing.” 
― Temitope Owosela
“The two hardest tests on the spiritual road are the patience to wait for the right moment and the courage not to be disappointed with what we encounter.” 
― Paulo Coelho