I got the the seed for this article when I read a quote by Disraeli, who said, “the secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.” But most of the time, we always wait for the right time before they begin. But the right time never comes! It's because opportunity has always been with us. But we are not ready for it. Let me share with you this small but interesting story on opportunity which I had read recently.When the great library of Alexandria burned, the story goes, one book was saved. But it was not a valuable book; and so a poor man, who could read a little, bought it for a few coppers.
The book wasn't very interesting, but between its pages there was something very interesting indeed. It was a thin strip of vellum on which was written the secret of the "Touchstone"!
The touchstone was a small pebble that could turn any common metal into pure gold. The writing explained that it was lying among thousands and thousands of other pebbles that looked exactly like it. But the secret was this: The real stone would feel warm, while ordinary pebbles are cold.
So the man sold his few belongings, bought some simple supplies, camped on the seashore, and began testing pebbles. He knew that if he picked up ordinary pebbles and threw them down again because they were cold, he might pick up the same pebble hundreds of times. So, when he felt one that was cold, he threw it into the sea. He spent a whole day doing this but none of them was the touchstone. Yet he went on and on this way. Pick up a pebble. Cold - throw it into the sea. Pick up another. Throw it into the sea.
The days stretched into weeks and the weeks into months. One day, however, about mid afternoon, he picked up a pebble and it was warm. He threw it into the sea before he realized what he had done. He had formed such a strong habit of throwing each pebble into the sea that when the one he wanted came along, he still threw it away.
So it is with opportunity. Unless we are vigilant, it's easy to fail to recognize an opportunity when it is in hand and it's just as easy to throw it away. The problem is we never know when the door of opportunity is going to open wide. For some, the big break comes early in life and for others later on. But for all of those who become successful, there is one key similarity: They were ready. And for every one of those who were ready, there were thousands more who weren't. So, the principle for us is: Be ready!
The book wasn't very interesting, but between its pages there was something very interesting indeed. It was a thin strip of vellum on which was written the secret of the "Touchstone"!
The touchstone was a small pebble that could turn any common metal into pure gold. The writing explained that it was lying among thousands and thousands of other pebbles that looked exactly like it. But the secret was this: The real stone would feel warm, while ordinary pebbles are cold.
So the man sold his few belongings, bought some simple supplies, camped on the seashore, and began testing pebbles. He knew that if he picked up ordinary pebbles and threw them down again because they were cold, he might pick up the same pebble hundreds of times. So, when he felt one that was cold, he threw it into the sea. He spent a whole day doing this but none of them was the touchstone. Yet he went on and on this way. Pick up a pebble. Cold - throw it into the sea. Pick up another. Throw it into the sea.
The days stretched into weeks and the weeks into months. One day, however, about mid afternoon, he picked up a pebble and it was warm. He threw it into the sea before he realized what he had done. He had formed such a strong habit of throwing each pebble into the sea that when the one he wanted came along, he still threw it away.
So it is with opportunity. Unless we are vigilant, it's easy to fail to recognize an opportunity when it is in hand and it's just as easy to throw it away. The problem is we never know when the door of opportunity is going to open wide. For some, the big break comes early in life and for others later on. But for all of those who become successful, there is one key similarity: They were ready. And for every one of those who were ready, there were thousands more who weren't. So, the principle for us is: Be ready!
All we need is to adore and praise the opportunities in life. These opportunities lay foundation to the success of our life and destiny. Every other day, new opportunities will keep on knocking the door and we need to use it for our personal and professional development. All of us face crisis and disappointments in life and In the midst of crisis, we often find us deprived of guidance and support. The fact is, in such adversities, one has to stay focused and extremely dedicated towards hard work, then automatically the door of opportunity swings open. These adversities maybe looked upon as a break or an opportunity, to use all these obstacles, as a stepping stone towards achievement. It all depends upon how we choose to face it.
We need to cultivate a continual sense of adventure to take advantage of opportunities. As we know, winners make the best of opportunities while victims whine on counting their numbers. Our growth and development enables us to understand the ways through opportunities and chances creep into our life and we neglect it or ignore it by considering it as a mere or ordinary situation of life. We need to identify such prospects at right time which is necessary to bring accomplishment in life, as it is not an one-time process but an ongoing practice through out our existence. Each time a new probability must be embraced with much more passion and enthusiasm.
Our focus must be to create new ways to increase independence and opportunity improvement, for further actions in life. We all are possessed with broad range of skills and abilities and a hidden inner power to excel in preferred field. All we need is to realize our potential and back it with a strong background of experience and sensitivity to the problems we face in performance. We need to understand that, the opportunities count blessings instead of tribulations; it’s a force for bringing meaningful change in healthy magnitude. If we utilize it in proper manner it acts as a reason of mental peace, tranquility and harmony in life.
Our door will open someday like it opens for everyone. It may only open once or it may open many times. It may be different for everyone and life just isn't fair that way. But the truth is everybody gets a shot. Question is will we be ready? Once that huge door of opportunity opens up, will we be able to walk boldly through it? All we need to do is, list the things that we must do to ready ourselves when opportunities come. Then prepare them. When we are ready, we can recognize and seize every opportunity, and every opportunity will seize us.
Let's do everything we can to grab it. Let's not just sit and wish and dream. Let's be proactive and make sure that we are the most qualified when the door opens and make sure that we are the hardest worker. All we need is to make sure we are the closest to the door! When it opens – Be Ready!
Ssshhh....... Do you hear that sound? Hinges creaking! It is the sound of the door opening. Our door of opportunity - The touch stone! I am ready, how about you?
Shamim
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