Everyone is life aspires to succeed in every endeavour her or she undertakes. Success builds confidence while failure leads to dejection. Success is appreciated while failure brands a person as incompetent. There are several factors which go into making any venture a success. To be successful, one has to plan, make strategies and pit in concerted effort. Of course luck also plays its part. An effort carried out in planned manner and with perseverance is sure to bear fruit. One has to take stock of he situation and act when the time is appropriate.
The proverb ‘strike while the iron is hot ‘ is closely associated with the occupation of an ironsmith. He puts the iron in fire till it becomes red hot. Once the iron is red hot, it becomes soft and he loses no time in molding it to the desired shape. If he allows it to cool, he loses and excellent opportunity.
image source: s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/bb/6f/4d/bb6f4d6575bce2b210246acf37c0e92d.jpg
Interpreted and applied to daily human existence, the proverb means seizing the opportunity when it present itself. The wise always remain alert and make the best use of the opportunity that comes their way. While people who are not watchful and let the opportunity skip by, find it extremely difficult to succeed in any endeavour. When opportunity knocks at the door those who make the best use of it succeed, while others who do not are left behind. Opportunities seldom repeat themselves. Therefore, an opportunity once missed is missed either for a lifetime or for a long period.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
When the sea is in tide, the sailors who are alert, seize the chance to set their ships on sail. Those sailors who remain anchored on land miss the opportunity, and are forced to postpone their journey till the arrival of another tide. Similarly, there is a tide in the affairs of human beings, that is, there is a certain time which is propitious for achieving certain objectives.
This proven can be applied to any shape of life and its efficacy can be evaluated. In the fields of sports, those players who make the best out of the opportunities succeed in their game and make their nation feel proud of them. Generally players have succeeded by taking advantage of their opponents’ weaknesses and seizing the opportunity of defeating them.
History of the world would have taken a different course if Hitler had seized the opportunity of carrying out an offensive Britain rather than Russia. In the meantime England was able to gather the support of its allies and defeat Hitler in the Second World War. His ambitions of conquering the world were nipped in the bud because he did not grab the opportunity when it came up to him. Nadir Shah, the Irani ruler, attacked and plundered India’s wealth, when Indian was being ruled by the weakest of the Mughal Kings, Mohammad Shah Rangila. A part from the wealth, he also took away the Peacock Throne of Shah Jahan, which was a precious relic.
Indian has remained a country which followed an archaic pattern of society. The splintered society was never able to resist and aggression. The Aryans invaded and settled down in India and shared their religious beliefs, culture and traditions with the inhabitants of the country. In the medieval period, Turks and Muslim invasion become frequent because the country was divide into different empires which were not strong enough to defend the aggressions.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
The aggressors know the weakness of India and grabbed the opportunity to plunder India’s wealth. Timur Lang’s invasion took place when India was under weak rulers. The Mughal dynasty was founded by Babur which restored stability in the nation. The country prospered under the successors especially Akbar. The decline of the Mugal dynasty led to the era of the British conquest in India. The British took advantages of the growing instability in the country to further their vested interests.
In the field of politics, this maxim holds equally good. A politician’s success largely depends on his skill to exploit the sentiment of the public. There are certain people who are more often caught slumbering when it comes to recognizing the opportunity. Having missed it they curse their stars or their misfortune for their failures. No doubt, there are times when individual alertness does not help much and success depends on mere chance. But such times are few and far between.
Sometimes it also happens that one who takes risk get all success. We should be open to new challenges because facing challenges makes one more confident and courageous. Generally, those who keep their eyes and ears open to strike at the right opportunity achieve success. They join the bandwagon of successful people because by being sagacious they make the best out of the opportunities that comes their way.