To succeed in life, we must start. To keep it going, to keep growing it, to keep adding value to our lives, we must persevere. We must face our fears. It doesn’t matter what we do, to keep it going, we must stick with our dreams. We must put our plans in front of us. We must live them every day. Do not give up. No matter how hard, no matter how tough, if you want to succeed, if you want to know yourself, you “must run to the end.” You must complete what you start. In the words of Elias Lyman Magoon, “The practice of perseverance is the discipline of the noblest virtues. To run well, we must run to the end. It is not the fighting but the conquering that gives a hero his title to renown.” That is, if you want to make it in life, you must keep working.
“The golden opportunity you are seeking is in yourself. It is not in your environment; it is not in luck or chance, or the help of others; it is in yourself alone.”- Orison Swett Marden
There are opportunities everywhere. Your opportunity is not in your environment. It is not in your house. It is not in your “luck or chance.” The life you are seeking, the growth you are seeking, the happiness you are seeking, the love you are seeking, the togetherness you are seeking is in you. It is in your soul. It is in your suffering. It is in the dark.
When you listen to your suffering, you can learn a lot from it. The Scripture says, “And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character and hope.”
The opportunity you are looking for is not in your environment. It is in your suffering. It is in your character. It is in hope. So whenever you are faced with problems, you should be happy for facing them. Instead of running away from your problems, why not use the opportunity to connect with yourself, to bring out the best in yourself, to love yourself even more. Why not? What are you waiting for?
Robert Collier was right when he said, “In every adversity there lies the seed of an equivalent advantage. In every defeat is a lesson showing you how to win the victory next time.” Whatever you are going through, it is not here to stop you from reaching your goals. Do not ignore your suffering. It has a lot to teach you. All you need to do is to just make room for it to happen. It is your responsibility to do it for yourself, for your future. Do not limit your life. You have a goal to achieve. You have your life to live. And to do that, you need to leave your safe zone. You need to challenge yourself. The only way to get your opportunity is to make sure that your feelings about your opportunity never defeat you. Because if you allow your emotions to control you, you miss your golden opportunity. Do not miss it.
