Opportunity may knock only once, but temptation leans on the doorbell.

Opportunity may knock only once, but temptation leans on the doorbell. – Unknown

Oooh! Can you resist pushing the button? Will it ring the doorbell, or will you end up wet?

What does that mean?
I like this quote; it is so sassy! I could have sworn this was a quote from Mae West or one of her contem-poraries. But all the sourcing I have seen says that it is unknown.

For those who don’t know, leaning on the doorbell means exactly what it says. It presumes that you didn’t see the electrical switch for the bell, and leaned up against it, causing the doorbell to ring continuously.

Knocking, on the other hand, is a brief, and often more quiet way of announcing your presence at the door. The quote uses these different methods to show a relationship between the two.

This quote, then, is about how we react to things. Opportunity is usually seen as fleeting, a once-in-a-lifetime event. Temptation, on the other hand, is usually seen as pervasive and always there.

Why is seeing both opportunity and temptation important?  
I believe that opportunity is always present. It may not always be at the door, but it is usually within hailing distance, or at worst, down at the corner. What we have to do is work to take advantage of opportunities, both the obvious ones, and those which are not quite so obvious.

Similarly, temptation is no more or less prevalent than opportunity. It is just that opportunity looks like hard work and temptation looks more like fun. It is just a matter of perspective. If you are looking for temptation, guess what you’ll see? If you aren’t expecting to find opportunity, guess what you won’t see?

For me, that was a bit of a challenge, but I now see opportunities nearly as often as I see temptation. Of course, the real challenge is to take advantage of the opportunities more often than we take advantage of the temptations. That may be a little more difficult.

I believe that with some effort, and some thought, we can learn to do a good job at not only seeing opportunity, but acting on the opportunities which are of interest. Similarly, I believe we can find ways to see fewer temptations, and to act less frequently on our urges.

Where can I apply this in my life?
I suppose that depends on how good you already are at recognizing opportunity, and taking appropriate action. It also depends on how good you are at ignoring temptation, and choosing not to act when it rings the doorbell, over and over again.

At one point in time, I was painfully linear. In the summer between 3rd and 4th grade, I got an electronics kit, and quickly built everything that was listed in the manual. Radios, solar projects, detectors of many kinds, and even amplifiers. I knew I was going to be an electrical engineer.

Plenty of other opportunities presented themselves, I just had no interest. I had decided, and ignored the other knocks on the door. It even played a critical part in deciding which of the job offers to accept. I was a monomaniac on a mission.

On the temptation side, I used to eat Oreos by the pound. Literally. One time, because I was running low, I put on cross country skis and went to the grocery store, to make sure I had enough Oreos and milk, just in case the snow ended up being as bad as was forecast.

Now, I might have a set of cookies (just three, not the whole package) every other week, as a treat, instead of as a food group. I learned that it took quite a bit of exercise to burn off a single Oreo, and that a whole bag would have me on the treadmill all night long.

What tempts you, and how can you find ways to make it seem much less interesting? What can you do to divert your desires to something less damaging or less intense? Can you wean yourself, step down slowly, or find another outlet? There are options and support communities out there, if you look.

Which brings us back to opportunity. There are plenty of ways to reduce and even defeat temptation. Support groups, how-to web pages, self-help books. Plenty of opportunities. But can you hear them knocking? Will you get up and answer the door? Will you check the front yard and all the way to the next corner?

From: Twitter, @DavidRoads
confirmed at : http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/4223.html
Photo by Seth Mazow

Related articles

• The Door. (memyselfandmezzi.wordpress.com)
• Who is at the door? (jacquisenn.com)
• C. S. Lewis on Temptation (mengamayesu.wordpress.com)
• Nov. 7, 2013 – Today’s Gift from Hazelden (12thstepper.wordpress.com)
• Breaking the Temptation Triangle: Avoiding the Three Factors Found In Every Moral Failure (theleaderspen.wordpress.com)