Just In Case
In 1970, Crocker Bank had a problem.
Young people were getting married, buying cars, opening accounts, and dreaming about homes, but they were not choosing Crocker. The bank needed a different kind of ad, one that felt less like a sales pitch and more like a glimpse of the future.
The idea was simple: show a young couple leaving their wedding and driving away together, carrying little more than hope and the promise of a life ahead.
All it needed was familiar scenes and a song.
The assignment eventually found its way to Roger Nichols and Paul Williams. It was a short piece for a bank commercial; neither really wanted the gig. It would be barely heard and as quickly forgotten.
They took it anyway.
In one afternoon, they wrote two verses for the advertisement. But they did something no one had asked them to do.
They finished the song.
They went above and beyond, completing it just in case someone someday wanted more.
Richard Carpenter heard the commercial on television and tracked down the writers. He asked whether a complete version existed.
It did.
Soon, Karen Carpenter gave the song her unmistakable voice, and that small bank commercial became "We’ve Only Just Begun.”
It climbed to number two on the charts and became one of the most recognizable love songs of its generation.
A classic was born because two men refused to treat a small opportunity carelessly.
Opportunity rarely arrives looking important. More often, it appears as an interruption, a minor assignment, or something far beneath the life we imagined.
We tend to appreciate doors only after we know where they lead. By then, appreciation is easy.
Wisdom is recognizing value before there is proof.
Most opportunities will never become famous songs. They may become a relationship, a skill, a new direction, or the preparation for a door we cannot yet see.
The opportunity in front of us may not look like much, but that does not mean it is meaningless.
Take it seriously. Do the work well. Finish the song.
Just in case.
If this spoke to you, share it with someone who may be facing a small opportunity today.
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