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The Nature of Opportunity |
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Wednesday, 03 September 2008 |
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It is easy for us to count our miseries and think that other people have better opportunities than us. Opportunity is always everywhere – there is no season, experience or challenge that is not pregnant with its own special opportunity.
Be present
Some people live in the past. They are always showing off lack-luster trophies and singing the songs of regret. The past is an asset but never a parking lot. History is always a version of the truth we choose to believe. To pursue greatness it is important that we come back home – to today. Today is that future we least imagined would come on us.
Be responsible
The window of opportunity will not always open itself. We must all take personal responsibility for our lives and organizations. The disease that kills initiative and maims minds is called “the entitlement mentality”. The earlier we accept that no one owes us a living is the sooner we start doing something with the opportunities in our laps. All great people always make more opportunities than the ones that they are given.
There is an old story of a kind king who wanted to give some gold to one of his subjects. He took many days thinking about this until one day he got an idea. In the dead of the night he took several gold pieces and put them in a bag. He then went to a road that is usually busy during the day and hurled a big rock onto the road hiding the gold bag under the rock. He then went nearby and hid to watch what would happen. As the sun rose he watched the street beginning to fill up with activity. People would come to where the rock was, curse, complain and walk past. Others were too busy seeking a fortune to do anything with the rock. Others stood around the rock, thought a little about how someone could be so irresponsible to block such a busy road and then walked away.
Towards sunset a simple man walked by and on seeing the rock he decided to move the rock off the road so as to make things easy for every other pedestrian. Other people seeing him trying to move the rock mocked him. Others thought that he was simply too ambitious and unrealistic. The man persisted and finally he moved the rock and underneath to his amazement, he saw the bag full of gold pieces. While he was still wondering who could have hidden the gold under the rock the king came out of his hiding place and congratulated the man for taking responsibility to bring a solution.
Many people run away from opportunity because they are too busy with their lives to solve problems for others and make a difference. Our opportunities are in the problems that we solve. We can always turn our obstacles into stepping-stones. Underneath every difficulty that we choose to solve there are rich rewards waiting for us. Instead of seeing calamity in every difficulty we can choose to start seeing opportunity. We will be waiting for a long time if we think that someone else will do it for us. People who are seeking for the easy path to greatness lose many opportunities for growth.
Be resolute
The decisions we make determine the directions that we go in. All people that turn their lives and organizations into anything of note are resolute. They resolve to find a way or to make one. They resolve to turn any stumbling block into a stepping-stone. They resolve to outlive every difficulty they face. People who are resolved to find a way will always find opportunities galore. Necessity has always been the mother of all opportunity.
I am not pretending that there are no calamities, difficulties or adversities in life. Every situation that we face is always like a coin – it has two sides. Sometimes the challenges we face are like a long and weary night. The dawn promises not to come at all. For the opportunity minded it is in times like these that they open every door in anticipation of dawn. Sometimes dawn comes when the oil of hope in our lamps has been spent. It is when we are faced with the darkest nights that we can best appreciate the beauty of the stars.
Be motivated
Sometimes we are waiting and hoping that someone will motivate us to take opportunity by the horns and do great things. Well, we may be waiting for a long time. Today is the day we can decide to march forward into life and make a difference.
To your greatness!
Milton Kamwendo
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Robert Gabriel Mugabe (born on February 21, 1924) is the President of Zimbabwe. He has been the head of government in Zimbabwe since 1980, first as Prime Minister and later as first executive President.