Design your Destiny

Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.

If you wish to scale new heights in life, you have to use every opportunity which comes your way. Those will become successful who never misses a single step when climbing the ladder of opportunities.

You can classify opportunities in two ways. The first are direct opportunities which appear on their own. The second one are those which we create or indirect opportunities.

We have to utilize the first kind of opportunities when they appear. You have to grab the luck when it knocks the door. Such golden opportunities never appear again in your life.

A word uttered, time lost, released arrow, lost opportunity will never come back. If we utilize the opportunity in time, you will see unimaginable results. If you lose the opportunity, you have to feel sad for a life time.

When a great opportunity knocks the door, even a fool will become great achiever. He is the achiever who achieves something, when there is no opportunity. In fact this second kind of opportunities are not opportunities but obstacles. You have to mould these obstacles into opportunities with tact, resilience and patience. All our intelligence lies in molding these obstacles into opportunities. When moving ahead in the maze of life, you should not be too happy when find the opportunities and should not get disappointed when lose the opportunities. You have to maintain a balance between these two extremes. Intelligent will never afraid of trivial things and try hard to climb the ladder of success grabbing the opportunities, whether it is small or big.

Intelligent always learn lessons from depressing circumstances. A fool gets depressed with small disappointments. Every opportunity is an obstacle in disguise. Our positive perception only leads to success.

As great poet Kalidasa says ‘Diamond will not search for the wearer. The wearer will search for the diamond.’ In the same manner, opportunity will not come searching for us. We have to search for the opportunity.

Pandavas in Mahabharatha were not disappointed when they were living in forest. Instead, they gathered great weapons to face the challenging future which is approaching them in the form of great Kurukshetra war.

As Swami Vivekananda said ‘When you are travelling against winds in the middle of the ocean, when the ship is not moving, everybody abuses the wind flowing disturbing the passage. There is no use in abusing the wind. You have to change your course of action to arrange your yacht according to the winds and move on’

Rabindranath Tagore said that ‘Losers see opportunities as obstacles; where winners see obstacles as opportunities.’ A stone which is an obstacle for a loser will become a stepping stone for winner.

The founder of Banaras Hindu University Madan Mohan Malavya came to the Nizam of Hyderabad to seek donations for the University. Nizam of Hyderabad said that as it is Hindu University, I will not donate anything being a Muslim. Malavya politely replied that ‘you are the Ruler. You should not have discrimination among the people like Hindus and Muslims. You have to spend money for the welfare of the people.’ Nizam got agitated on Malavya for his reply, and thrown his sandal on him. Pandit Madan Mohan Malavya humbly picked the sandal and thanked him for his donation. He left the place and the next day, news appeared in the news paper ‘Nizam’s sandal for auction’! Nizam thought that ‘one sandal is not useful to wear; if nobody buys the single sandal, it is insult for me. Even if they buy for lesser price, it is also insult for me. He has sent his emissaries to buy the sandal for huge amount. In this manner, Pandit Madan Mohan Malavya got big donation from the Nizam for his University, who refused first to give any kind of donation. This is what molding the obstacle into opportunity. Opportunities and obstacles are not different. It is our perception which differs. An opportunity for one may be an obstacle for others.

An opportunity may change your life. If you utilize the opportunity, it is gold. Those who work hard as sky is the limit, success rushes to embrace them. As Swami Vivekananda rightly said, ‘You will reap what you sow; your future is in your hands. You are the sculptor of your future. You are the designer of your destiny.’