We don't need to create opportunities; rather, we need to decide which ones to pursue in each moment! But how do we know our best opportunities?

Consider driving in highway traffic when you want to pass someone - how do you know when to pull out? Which "hole" is yours to take? And what happens if you don't take it? Your driving experience and inner wisdom help you to make that decision on a routine basis. You identify your opportunities to pass based on current conditions. And the same is true of any other opportunity in life and/or business.

An opportunity is an opening to get to your next place of being. Often an opportunity involves some degree of growth in order to be able to take advantage of and/or sustain it. And if you have a karmic agreement to grow in a particular area, you will have continuous opportunities appear over your lifetime to help you learn what you need for your next level. And once you "get" whatever it is that you needed to learn, you graduate to your next set of opportunities.

Here are three ways to know if an opportunity is yours:

1. The growth / benefit potential exceeds required input. If you can see that the reward is positive in the end despite the effort and whatever else is needed for you to take advantage of the opportunity, chances are it's a good one for you. If the magnitude of what is required from you is daunting or overwhelming, but you have even a glimmer of something better as a result of the opportunity, it's worth taking the risk. After all, it's about experiencing the range of your personal possibilities for your best growth!

2. It keeps showing up for you. If it seems that the same types of opportunities keep presenting, such as you are attracting the same difficult client with a different name or your energy fades out at the same time of day or your money issues don't change over time, these are patterns of opportunities that are inviting you to get to your next level. (The only thing worse than this type of opportunity showing up is NOT having it show up for you - or not being able to see it to move forward in a bigger way!) If you see a pattern to your opportunities, it's time to do something different - take advantage of it and see where it takes you!

3. You will regret not taking it. There are times when you may not know an opportunity is the right one or at the right time, but you can feel that you would experience loss, sadness or regret if you don't take advantage of it when it's right there. Sometimes it comes down to a split decision in the moment - that is your spirit demanding that you show up for yourself beyond your comfort zone and in trust that you will have the experience and outcomes that you need in your best and highest good. Ideally, at any point in your life, you can look at where you are and where you've been without regret. Just do it!

In my opinion, suffering is at least partially attributable to missed opportunities. We see them in hindsight or we are bound by some external "thing" (people's opinions, perceptions of our own lack of resources or whatever) to not see them or not take advantage of them when they show up. The only solace we can take from that awareness is that we will get another chance if it is truly our opportunity. It will come again, maybe in different form and at another time, but once we see it on any level, we can know it as our next best opportunity.

At any rate, take a look at the opportunities that are present in your world right now that you may not have recognized up until now and take advantage of them. New results and your best life are waiting for you!

Lynn Scheurell, Creative Catalyst, works with soul-driven entrepreneurs to create a livelihood from their true purpose. This type of business development requires extreme personal clarity in combination with innovation and active implementation of proven business practices. Download a free report to learn "The Seven Deadly Mistakes That Keep Soul-Driven Business Owners from Making Money" at http://www.mycreativecatalyst.com