I was just beginning to write a new marketing entry for you, and my “pet” Osprey swooped in to say hello. About three years ago, a ginormous Osprey came to roost up here next to my deck. (The photo is actually him, live and in color.)

He’s amazing to watch in action, especially when he spots something from way up here (I’m about 40 feet above the ocean water). He stands up here for hours with rapt focus, then flaps that 7-foot wingspan and dive bombs head-first into the surf to grab his monster prize fish. (Not too crazy about the fishy remains he brings me, but, hey, he’s LEARNING to be a pet.)

To the American Indians, when an Osprey just decides to hang out with you, its message is this: “If you’ve noticed, my dear human, I don’t wait for fish to jump up, flapping their fins saying, ‘Here I am!’ Take the risk! Stay absolutely focused on what it is you want. Then dive in, fully committed; get outside your comfort zone. It’s only when you’re in that place that you’ll see your opportunity and seize upon it.”

Well said, my dear Osprey.

Opportunity is always there; it’s an extremely abundant universe. The opportunity you seek for your expanded or brand-new business is absolutely impervious to doomsday thinking, naysayers, Negative Nellies and anyone else in your life who claims there’s a bad economy going on, or that you’re just not capable.

So, when you’re tempted to abandon that great idea or shrink back from expansion and greater profitability, think of my Osprey – and make the dive.