“Your life is your dream. Make the most of it before you wake up.”
-Marwan Zogheib
People repeatedly say that great things come to those who wait. I must have heard that phrase over 365 times at least in one year. Though I firmly believe in the virtue of patience, why do people hold on to cliches? Are they afraid that in being too earnest, one might burn bridges and oneself?
I believe in the concept of waiting for opportunity. My concern starts when someone just stops there and does anything more than just wait. This is passive. I believe in what I call “active waiting” or simply put readiness. And also:
What if the opportunity never comes?
What if your high school basketball coach keeps you on the bench for the entire season? How are you going to prove yourself to colleges?
What if your boss is too busy to hear your innovative idea of a potential investment abroad?
Are you just going to keep on waiting for the opportunity to come? Will you keep on waiting for what tomorrow will bring, given the possibility that tomorrow might never come or that you might miss another opportunity because your focus was on that single one?
Active waiting or readiness means that as you wait you remain alert and ready to actively create opportunity if none comes along.
My friend and I exchange song titles in order to diversify our music libraries; the other day, she sent me a song called Transmission by Zedd. What struck me the most in that song was the following phrase: “Remember what they told you, that you are never too young to die”.
Nobody is going to knock on your door one day and hand you an opportunity for free. Everything has a price. You have to create that opportunity and remain alert to others that might be there invisible to your eyes as you concentrate all your attention on that one long awaited opportunity. An opportunity is when something beautiful happens – it might come as imperceptibly as a twinkle – and you are ready to grab it.
If death came knocking at your door, will you be scared and say that you are too young to die?
What did you achieve worth remembering after you are gone?
What are you waiting for?
Your heart has not stopped yet.
Change The Lens 