The St. Petersburg, Florida police department recently posted that 83% of recent auto thefts were due to the keys being left in the ignition. Curious – why would people leave their keys in the car and practically ask someone to steal it? Haven’t we been drummed in the head our entire adult lives about locking up the car, hiding valuables away, installing anti-theft devices, etc?

Turns out these are crimes of opportunity.  In Greek Mythology KAIROS (or Caerus) was the spirit of opportunity, the youngest divine son of Zeus. He was depicted as a youth with a long lock of hair hanging down from his forehead, which indicated that Opportunity could only be grasped as he approached.

This is how it goes – someone will wander nonchalantly around a gas station, quick-mart, post-office looking for a hurried person wanting to just dash in and drop/pick-up an item, maybe work with a partner.  The soon to-be victim thinks ‘lots of people coming and going, a safe place to leave the car running for a few minutes – I’m just going to be 2 minutes?’

You get the picture – when they come out the car is gone innocently driven away by our astute thief; a crime of opportunity. So they don’t pull it off every time, it maybe days, weeks and months but eventually their patience is rewarded when Kairos passes by.

Opportunity is a game of chance, a favorable set of circumstances but I’m pretty sure Kairos walks among us still for opportunity is at every corner, every turn of the page, everything we see, hear and think about.  Don’t settle for the ways things/processes are always done, grab onto that lock of hair and go change your world – one day, one project at a time; after all the spirit of Opportunity is timeless.