Opportunities are everywhere Zhang Baotong 2018.7.22

Why do some people feel that life is difficult and they always see no opportunities and hopes, but some people are able to swim like a fish in water, and there are opportunities everywhere in front of them? There are naturally many reasons for this. To this end, you must have the concept and courage to break through and fight, to have sufficient knowledge and skills, and to have continuous pursuit and progress.

Twenty years ago, I went to a place in northern Shaanxi and met a young man, strong and sturdy, tall and big, but his ideology was very old. The family is so poor that there is only one broken kiln left, and he can't say how old he is to have a daughter-in-law, and he refuses to go out to work. I advised him that he should go out for a while, see the world, and grow his skills, but he said that the golden nest and the silver nest are not as good as his own soil nest. How much hope and opportunity will this kind of person who is not even willing to leave his home have? If you look at those southerners in the coastal areas, let alone during the period of reform and opening up, they began to cross the ocean and work hard several hundred years ago, so now if we look at Southeast Asia, how many Chinese have already become wealthy businessmen.

There is an old Chinese saying that when a person lives, a tree dies. This word is the meaning of wandering. There is also an old Chinese saying that when people go to high places, water flows to low places. As long as you dare to venture and keep forging ahead, your life destiny and environment will get better and better. It's like mountaineering, when you see a mountain that is very high, you climb it, you get to the top of it, and you find that there is a higher mountain, so you climb higher mountains. And the peak of life is one peak higher than the other, never ending.

Life's opportunities are like mountaineering, it doesn't make you feel like you've climbed all the mountains, so the opportunities are gone. Throughout our lives, opportunities are always coming and going as we grow. Some opportunities are foreseeable, others are unknowable. There are some opportunities that we have given up on our own initiative, and there are opportunities that we have not been able to grasp.

We have had many job looks, but in the end, we only chose one of them, and we have had many job opportunities, but we have always stuck to that position.

I have two unforgettable memories of the opportunity. Once, I passed the exam and was hired to the Frankfurt office of Xi'an Foreign Trade Company, but my wife and her family firmly refused to allow me to leave home and go abroad, because our marriage was in crisis at that time. Another time, the secretary of the unit asked me to write a reportage for him to publish in a railway journal. However, the director of the office wanted to please the secretary, so he told the secretary that I did not want to write. As a result, the director wrote it himself, and because he couldn't write it well, the secretary's deeds were not published in the journal. For this reason, the secretary held a grudge against me, and made two cadre adjustments in a row, which only put me aside. It wasn't until I left the education committee that the secretary asked me why I refused to write his reportage. However, no one ever asked me to write a report for him. If I had known that the secretary had asked me to write his reportage, I would not have been flattered? And the secretary also said that people spend 20 or 30 percent of their energy on their work, and 780 percent of their energy on interpersonal relationships, but I put 100 percent of my energy into my work. Well, if I could have spent some of my time and energy on leading and connecting with people, my position would not be the same as it is now. However, there are some things that we don't know, and some things that we don't want to do. Therefore, it has invisibly led to many opportunities passing by us unconsciously.

In fact, there will be many opportunities in our lifetime, but because we don't pay attention or don't take it seriously, we let it slip away needlessly. For example, every class or exam in college may be an opportunity in our lives. Every transaction we make in our work, a courtesy, or a responsibility, can also be an opportunity. An honest gesture in our dealings with others, a warm gesture of support, or a demonstration of faith can also be a great opportunity. Every time an honor is earned and a responsibility is assumed, it is a priceless reward. When a person gains enough honor and trust, his opportunities will increase.

If we have so many opportunities, why should we wait idly and indifferently? Young man, have you ever thought that before you were born, the land was already occupied, the earth had stopped growing, the seats had been filled, the resources had been exploited, had all the opportunities been gone? Were the mysteries of nature mastered? Did you really feel that you were now exhausted and had no way out? Think about Cao Cao's constant defeat after the Battle of Chibi, and seeing that Huarong Dao was blocked by Guan Yu again, he lamented that he was destined to die this time. However, unexpectedly, there was no endless road in the sky, the peaks and loops turned, and the willows and flowers were bright, and God gave him a way out at this time. At least we're not as sinister and embarrassed as Cao Cao. If we want to choose, I'm afraid we won't have only one path to go in Huarong like Cao Cao. Therefore, don't wait hesitantly, but show the determination and courage to "challenge the impossible" and open up a road for your future life.

Frankly speaking, seizing opportunities is not an easy task, and our temperament, interests, outlook on life, and values will all affect our choice and grasp of opportunities. Just as when we walk at a fork in the road of life, we choose this road but not that road, and the scenery of this road is not inferior to the scenery on that road. As I said in the first chapter of Poetic Emotions, "Lost is not an opportunity", sometimes a lost opportunity will have a better opportunity waiting for you. If you lose the east corner, you will reap the mulberry elm; Maybe we didn't grasp the opportunity to be promoted, but we will definitely have less official spirit and more culture. Maybe we didn't get to go abroad for glory, but we definitely got to spend more time with our families. It doesn't matter if we are officials or employees, at home or abroad, as long as we can live happily, we are happy.

We need to keep our eyes on the goal, always be ready, and seize the opportunity when it comes. If some opportunities are really passed by or sneaked away unconsciously, there is no need to be too concerned and sad. I am happy when I gain, and I am happy when I lose my life. Because opportunity can only change our career and treatment, but not our essence and beliefs.

Faith can turn loess into gold, and hard sweat can water the most beautiful flowers. As long as a person lives in the world, opportunities will always be by his side. We must use the courage to fight and hard work to create opportunities and grasp opportunities, and constantly improve and enhance the realm of life.