I am grateful for every opportunity life presents to me.

Opportunities almost never announce themselves as such. They show up as an awkward request, a job nobody else wanted, an introduction you nearly failed to follow up because you were tired that evening.

Ask anyone how they got where they are and the story usually contains one of these — a small yes given without much thought, which turned out to be the hinge the rest swung on. You cannot tell which is which in advance. That is the whole difficulty.

Which argues for a slightly lower bar on saying yes to the odd, unpromising thing that turns up this week.