Recently my daughter celebrated her 21st birthday, and I thought back to an
incident I had with her that was published many years ago in the book A Cup of Chicken Soup for the Soul. In sharing this story with you, I am reminded again to always look for opportunities that are given to us.

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I had offered to watch my 3-year-old daughter, Ramanda, so that my 
wife could go out with a friend. I was getting some work done while 
Ramanda appeared to be having a good time in the other room. No
 problem, I figured. But then it got a little too quiet and I yelled
 out, “What are you doing, Ramanda?” No response.

I repeated my question and heard her say, “Oh…nothing.” Nothing?

What does “nothing” mean?

I got up from my desk and ran out into the living room, whereupon I 
saw her take off down the hall. I chased her up the stairs and
 watched her as her little behind made a hard left into the bedroom. I
 was gaining on her! She took off for the bathroom. Bad move. I had 
her cornered.

I told her to turn around. She refused. I pulled out my
 big, mean, authoritative Daddy voice, “Young lady, I said turn
 around!”

Slowly, she turned toward me. In her hand was what was left of my
 wife’s new lipstick – and almost every inch of her face was covered
 bright red (except her lips of course)!

It was just a matter of my picking out which old message I was going to use on her so that she would know what a bad girl she had been.

But before I could let loose, I looked down at the sweatshirt my wife 
had put on her only an hour before. In big letters it said,
” I’M A PERFECT ANGEL! ” I looked back up into her tearful eyes and, instead of seeing a bad girl who didn’t listen, I saw a child of God…a perfect little angel full of worth, value and a wonderful spontaneity that I had come dangerously close to shaming out of her.

“Sweetheart, you look beautiful! Let’s take a picture so Mommy can
 see how special you look.” I took the picture and thanked God that I
 did not miss the opportunity to reaffirm what a perfect little angel
 He had given me.

Question: In what way do you relate to my story of how easy it can be to miss opportunities in our life? You can leave a comment by clicking the Comments box above.

The post Missed Opportunities first appeared on Dr. Nick Lazaris.