To aspire is human, to succeed is divine?

To aspire is human, to succeed may be divine, but to put in the work is what is enough.

I was scrolling through the internet and I saw a quote that read

“Opportunities don’t happen, you create them”.

I thought about this for a while. Opportunities do happen. They happen to everyone. If you’re offered a job at a leading company in the Uk, isn’t that an opportunity happening? How about seeing an ad on the internet and applying for that scholarship? You had the opportunity to come across that ad at the time you did. So what did this person mean by “opportunities don’t happen”?

After a while, I agreed with him, but only a little.

You see, opportunities do happen. They happen every day to everyone in different ways. However, the opportunity isn’t what secures that job, wins that scholarship, aces that exam, or smashes those goals. Opportunity gives only what it can give- an opportunity. Hard work is what makes the opportunity yours. You may have the opportunity to be offered a job in your dream company but hard work is what keeps you there.

It is not enough to “aspire to perspire”, to dream and to wish for, to want, hope and pray for. Even the Holy Book says,

“Faith without work is dead”.

It is not enough that you are privileged. What is enough is waking up every day and showing up, putting in the effort, giving it your best shot, and trying and trying again. It is very great to be privileged and to be presented with a life-changing opportunity. But it is unwise to be presented with such an opportunity and do nothing.

Put in the work today. Work hard. Show up, today, every day and always because opportunities do not happen, you create them. You take them and make them yours.