OPPORTUNITY
Breath, Bravery, and the Joy of Reaching Higher
Opportunity isn’t just a word—it’s a launchpad. For individuals in Maryland and DC, this reflection explores how moments of risk and wonder shape emotional growth, and how childhood adventures remind us to climb, breathe, and believe.
This is a marvelous word. Take a moment and pronounce it aloud. You must push air out of your mouth to create the sound. Think about that. Here is a word with real potential and as you say it you are pushing air out between your lips. The air just explodes! Isn’t that what you want when you are facing a new challenge? You want to explode and jettison yourself forward to take advantage of new space or a new time.
What have been your opportunities to explode? I mean this in a good way, please. I love it when small children explode with joy or excitement. I bet you have a favorite memory of watching this happen. I remember the ice skates for Christmas when I was about 10 years old. Everyone in the family got ice skates and we lived close enough to the reservoir to use them on a regular basis. That is one winter that we were all praying for freezing temperatures. Skating on the ice is such a joyous experience. We were not Hans Brinker, but our blades were silver!
Children understand “opportunity” in ways that adults never do. There is a tree in the backyard that just begs to be climbed. Fir trees—even though sticky and prickly—are clearly designed for this. You can walk up the branches until you reach the top. The question is “Can you walk back down?” The answer is “generally not.” You should not have been there in the first place so that is one level of panic. You can see about a mile in the distance and that is another level of panic. Your fingers and toes are sticky from the sap and that is disgusting. Ok. You know you should not have done that, but it was so inviting and so easy. Then you look down.
You are about seventy-five feet off the ground. Your hands, feet and other parts of your body are sticky and gooey, and you clearly are no longer comfortable. Somehow the process of going up, headfirst and just grabbing one limb after another was easy. But let us face it, you do not have eyes in your butt. Going down will not be the same. What if you miss a limb? What if you slip? What if your gooey hands get stuck and throw you off balance? What if your foot misses a limb? Time to call for help.
Fortunately, your father has a two-story ladder and a steady countenance. As he climbs carefully up to you, he is calm and reassuring and admiring your success. He asks what you can see from there because he has never been to the top of the fir tree. You struggle to answer that question because you are focused on looking down, down, down, and not out. Then, he is there, and you are on the ladder. Breathe. One rung at a time, lower, lower, lower until the solid ground appears.
As you take in a deep breath and push it out, your muscles relax, and you remember the opportunity to climb to the top and reach for the sky and experience the landscape from more than seventy feet above the ground. The scene was glorious. You are an adventurer. And you are safe.
Want to explore how opportunity fuels emotional growth and resilience? Visit Psychology Today’s guide to emotional healing and growth, NeuroLaunch’s overview of emotional development, and Raising Families’ windows of opportunity in childhood.
If you’re reflecting on risk, resilience, or emotional expansion, therapy can help. Learn more about individual therapy in Maryland and DC or explore therapeutic approaches that support emotional insight and personal transformation.
By Dr. Gloria K Vanderhorst