There are two issues I’ve faced that have kept me from enjoying new opportunities. I call them mudpies and ice cream.
Mud Pies: CS Lewis identified this. We are too comfortable with what we’ve got. Too afraid of what we might lose, so we don’t act. We are figuratively, yet deliberately, stuck in the mud:
“…like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased." C.S. Lewis The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses
Ice Cream: Opportunities are usually directional, not specific. Opportunities always come with freedom of choice. Because if it specific, it isn’t an opportunity. It is a command.
Consider a loving parent providing the child with a great opportunity:
Parent: "Lets get ice cream!"
Child: "Yes! What flavor can I get?"
Parent: "Your choice!"
The parent makes the opportunity even greater by allowing freedom within it! Then, like the child, we fixate on making the best possible choice, and sample every flavor. My experience is that in the genre of ice cream it is impossible to make a bad choice! After we've finally selected our flavor, instead of enjoying our ice cream, we worry that we could have made a better choice. This is especially true when our younger sibling seems so happy with her choice, chanting "mmmm…luscious", while orange sherbet covers her face.
"Luscious"? She's 4! She doesn’t even know what the word means! She’s just a brat, trying to increase the sweetness her choice through your bitterness and her joy though your doubt.
Go to the beach! You can always return to the mud. Enjoy your ice cream! Second-guessing is just a bratty little snot that hates being ignored.
Bonus tip for parents: never take a young child to 31 Flavors…instead limit their choice to vanilla and chocolate and increase their enjoyment.