Opportunities In Disguised Challenges
One of the things that life's experiences will teach you is that some of the toughest moments in life can actually deliver some hidden chances for growth and to achieve success. It is true that life may not play out as you have planned or expected for it to, and it may even present some tough times to you, but one thing is without question; there are some hidden opportunities even in them. One very vital key to achieving lasting success and growth is to learn to recognise these hidden and disguised opportunities even when they are wrapped in challenges, problems, and difficulties.
A lot of people see the challenges that face them as setbacks or as something evidently negative, but if only they can look beyond it, they may see some light in it. A friend was telling me about his life when he was in the university. In his hostel and even the surrounding hostels, there was nobody that sold recharge cards. That was during the early days of mobile phones when recharge cards were printed and sold, then loaded by inputting in the pins. Not like now that people can recharge directly from their banks and from a lot of third-party apps. So in their hostel, if anyone wanted to recharge, they would trek to the school main gate to buy from a vendor, and that was about 15mins walk.
He was a fresher then, but he quickly noticed the discomfort that students pass through to buy recharge card. So he saved up money, and started the business right inside the hostel. He would buy the recharge card in bulk bricks and then sold in piece to the students. Instead of them going to the gate to buy, they would buy from him and he made a lot of money from it. Before then, a lot of students normally complained that where they bought recharge cards was far and tiring to trek to, but it was only him that saw opportunities in the challenges. He turned what everyone was complaining about into business and made profits from it. When things happen, it is how you choose to look at it - whether as a challenge or as opportunity, that will determine what you will take out from it.
Challenges, looking from a positive point of view, are part of the strategies of life to strengthen you, test your resilience, and prepare you for the next phase of your life. It is weird to see people wish for opportunities, yet when they are faced with challenges, they will cower, thereby missing the blessings that are in the challenges. What they fail to understand is that the opportunities that they are wishing for will not be delivered in shiny or attractive packages, but they may even come as painful experiences, problems, or difficult situations. This is why, before you conclude something as absolutely negative, ask if there are things to gain from it or at least a lesson to learn from it. Look at the hope, not on the despair.
When you understand this, then you have built up yourself to turn even the worst nightmare into some very adorable stepping-stone for success. You may have even failed at an attempt, but it does not make it the end of the journey. After all, there are vital lessons you can pick from it. So if you will be trying again, you would have already been armed with relevant experiences to give you a better chance of success. What defines you is not what comes to you; whether in form of challenges or the likes, but it is how you welcome or respond to them that will define you. Life teaches lessons, but the way it teaches it may vary from people to people and from time to time.
A friend once lost his job in one of the banking industries sometimes back. To him and to the people around him, it was like a major setback and a disappointing experience. But after a few weeks of sulking over it, he decided to start his own business. After just about 5 years of running the business, it has so grown that he makes more than twice of what he was paid in the banking sector. It was the very thing that was seen as a setback that actually pushed him to open his business. This shows that, in life, opportunities can come from anywhere and at anytime, you only need to keep your mind open to receive it.
Thanks for reading
