N.O.W. - No Opportunity Wasted

I just finished the book "No Opportunity Wasted" (NOW)" by Phil Keoghan, host of the tv series "The Amazing Race." That is definitely a book on the list of "Must-Reads" for everyone.

The premise behind the book is to create a list for the life that you want. You can accomplish this by the steps he outlines in the book:
1. Get rid of the excuses
2. Face your fear
3. Get lost
4. Test your limits
5. Take a leap of faith
6. Rediscover your childhood
7. Shed your inhibitions/express yourself
8. Break new ground
9. Aim for the heart

I was so incredibly inspired by this book, but realized that I have already started my "List for Life" which includes skiing in the European Alps and learning to crochet (among like 100 other things). Yet I know that my list will continue to grow as I do.

Here is one of my favorite parts of the book in the chapter "Rediscover Your Childhood:"

Kids don't bring this kind of baggage to their life experiences. They're wide open. They look around and see fresh opportunities everywhere. They're constantly surprised. Some of this is just a matter of inexperience (everything really is new to them, so of course they find it more interesting), but some of it is attitude and perspective. It's how you choose to view the world, and how you react to it. The writer Franz Kafka said, "Youth is happy because it has the ability to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old." But how do you keep seeing beauty? It may sound obvious, but the only way is to open your eyes--wide. Look hard, and long. Artists and writers have sometimes spoken of trying to see the world through a child's eyes, which really means looking closer at things, studying and admiring details, as if you're seeing something for the first time. This is a great exercise for all adults, not just artists. Try looking at your own backyard that way, and you'll notice things you never saw before.

I always want to see things in a new light, so I am going to exercise this by looking at things as if I am seeing them for the first time. I am refusing to let no opportunity be wasted! How important it is for us to keep ourselves with "fresh eyes"--it may be just what we need for that added inspiration.