As a rule, Miss Mae, I don't think it's correct to use the present tense if the subject of your sentence is still “alive and kicking.” The correct grammatical basis for using tense in reported speech is when the reported action actually happened, not on whether that action's doer is "still alive and kicking."
Consider this situation: A woman--whether she has already passed away or still very much alive at this very moment-- danced all night that Valentine's Day last year. How do you report that woman's action to a friend today? Logically you say: "I recall that that woman
danced all night that Valentine's Day last year." You don't say: "I recall that on Valentine's Day last year, that
woman is dancing all night." You say: "I recall that on Valentine's Day last year, that
woman danced all night." Something that happened in the past happened in the past and there isn't anything that we can do to change that fact.
IMAGE CREDIT: SLIDESHARE.COMThe exception is, of course, the
stream-of-consciousness narrative technique that's sometimes used in literary fiction or nonfiction, in which things are imagined to be happening at the very moment that the storyteller is telling it. The time element is blurred or dispensed with, as in this example: "In my mind
I see her dance all night on Valentine's Day..." This form uses literary license to recreate a past action as if it's happening at the very moment of thinking and speaking about it. It's an entirely different matter altogether and it really shouldn't be considered as reported speech.
As to your second question, I think it's incorrect to think that adverbs like "just" can't be used in the progressive tense. It all depends on your perception as the speaker whether to use "just" in the sense of "only" or "simply." For this reason, you're grammatically correct whether you say “I also
am just grabbing an opportunity” or “I
also am grabbing an opportunity.” The qualifier "just" is only a distinction that's entirely in your mind as a personal feeling; intrinsically, there's really no right or wrong about that.
I trust that this will help banish your confusions about these aspects of grammar.
RELATED READING:Check out "Stream of Consciousness Writing" in ThoughtCo.com now!