Diane tends to go with the flow—which is exactly how she ended up in the career of her dreams.

Like a lot of small-town girls, Diane grew up assuming “wife” would be her primary function and beyond that “nurse” seemed an interesting choice. So when she graduated high school, she enrolled in nursing school and got engaged. Unfortunately, nursing school didn’t quite work out as she’d planned. Neither did marriage.

After her divorce, she worked at a series of odd jobs before answering an ad for a medical transcription clerk at a local hospital. Before long, she was offered an opportunity to move up to medical transcriptionist. But no sooner had she stepped into her new role than the hospital decided to outsource its transcription services. Back she went to clerking.

Then one day a supervisor from the medical coding department asked Diane if she wanted to become a medical coder—a person who assigns pre-set codes to medical procedures so American insurance companies know how much to pay for them. No, Diane said, I don’t think I could do that. The supervisor handed her one of the giant coding manuals. Yes, you can, she said. Now, sit down, shut up, and start coding.

Soon Diane got her certification, and that’s how she wound up in the career she loves: medical coding—which, incidentally, happens to be one of America’s few recession-resistant occupations. Ask about her work, and Diane lights up. She thinks of herself as a medical Miss Marple, solving mysteries about what doctors did for their patients and how to ensure the hospital is appropriately compensated.

So are you equally prepared to go with the flow if a good opportunity floats by? Ask yourself these questions:

• Can I broaden my focus? Diane thought she’d like to be a nurse, but it didn’t take long for her to realize nursing just wasn’t her thing. Rather than trying to force herself into a role for which she wasn’t suited, she thought about other possibilities in the medical field: transcriptions clerk, transcriptionist, and finally, coder.

So you want to be the next American Idol? But what if that doesn’t work out? Have you considered becoming a music instructor, songwriter, studio musician, or producer? If your focus is too narrow, you may miss a great opportunity.

• Can I handle disappointments? Sometimes we miss new opportunities because we’re too busy mourning the ones that didn’t work out. Diane could have continued to work at odd jobs while bemoaning the fact that nursing school was a bust and her ex was a dud. Instead, she bided her time until something interesting, medical transcriptions clerk, caught her eye. Then she parlayed that into something more interesting: medical transcriptionist. When that didn’t work out, she went back to her clerking job and waited for the next break to come along.

• Am I willing to try something new? Medical coding takes training and skill. The job requires different types of certification, depending on whether you work in for a hospital or a private medical practice. And it requires a lot of patience. Many people would have been intimidated at the sight of that massive code book—especially after so many previous disappointments. But when the supervisor told Diane to “sit down, shut up, and start coding,” she figured “Why not? What do I have to lose?” If you can approach unexpected opportunities with that attitude, you might float right into your dream job, too.