Don’t Wait for Success

Noah didn’t wait for his ship to turn up, he built one. A wise old man once said, “Success happens when preparation meets opportunity.” In the words of Garth Henrichs, “He who waits for something to turn up might start with his own shirt sleeve.” There’s an Arabian proverb that says, “Four things come not back: the spoken word, the sped arrow, the past life, and the neglected opportunity.”

Nothing is more expensive than a missed opportunity. You are younger today than you will ever be again. Make use of it. An aging man cannot rewrite his youth but a youth may rewrite his own future. Nothing is so often irretrievably missed as a daily opportunity. Jumping at several small opportunities may get us there more quickly than waiting for one big one to come along.

Opportunities are never lost; someone will take the one you miss. If you want to get a boat ride, you’ve got to be near the river. While it might be hard to have a brand-new beginning, you certainly can have a brand-new ending if you seize the moment. Every day is an opportunity to make a new happy ending. The Good Old Book says, “Time and chance happen to them all – Ecclesiastes 9:11.”

We may not all have equal opportunities but life gives each one of us a chance to succeed. Few see their opportunity. Fewer seize their opportune moment. Refuse to be bypassed by your opportunity. Some opportunities come once in a lifetime. As Albert Einstein observed, “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, keep moving.” You see opportunities while you’re on the move.

DR. K. N. JACOB.