Seek Or Create

There are fewer opportunities available than the number of people seeking them, but there are more people to create more opportunities and they are not aware of it. So not being aware of it makes them join the bandwagon of seeking what they can create.

I was looking in a full-sized mirror this morning and the man in the mirror was talking to me. His first words were " You stand alone". Then a linear conversation started. I could not respond to what the man in the mirror was telling me. I could just keep his words in my mind and then think about them later on.

"You are alone", he continued. You are seeking opportunities, aren't you? Well seek and you shall find but what you shall find is an opportunity created by another man. You shall find the opportunity after seeking it for a duration but I can't tell you the length of the duration. How sure are you that you will seek and find? How will you know the opportunity will be of quality?

He continued his one-man conversation. Instead of seeking, why not create? I was about to respond but he did the responding for me. Yes, you are lazy to create an opportunity for yourself. You want to run to a comfort zone and ride on another person's tailcoat of glory. What if they decide to remove it and put it aside for a new one? Where will you stand? What if you become incompetent? Do you still want to seek opportunities?

Let me tell you something greater he said," Create an opportunity or opportunities."

What type of opportunities are you seeking? Are you seeking an opportunity for you to be used to enrich another man and they give you a share of their " riches" for your service so that you can live or survive? Are you seeking to create an opportunity for yourself and enrich yourself so that you will not be another corporate or individual's possession or asset that can be disposed of if something goes wrong?

I would rather pick the first opportunity to be "enriched" I told myself through intrapersonal communication, as I could not reply to this man in the mirror for he would have none of it. He continued if you pick the first opportunity. Won't it be a" shortcut to the top" or to run away from being extraordinary?

He was quiet for some time. What shortcut to getting to the top? I asked myself. Running away from being extraordinary, I laughed. I would rather work to enrich another man so that they can pay me for it. So long as that man or woman has a stable financial foundation to pay me. Opportunities don't just appear, when there is one it should be exploited. I comforted myself.

Create an opportunity. Me, to create an opportunity for myself with what. I have no money or resources but I have the skill. Would rather use my skill to get opportunities to enrich another man. So has to get a share of his riches. Rather than to create one. Which will take the time I don't have. The sacrifice that I'm too qualified not to undertake because I went through a struggle to be qualified to be certified to offer this service. So I can't struggle to create an opportunity for myself when they're available.

"You are too lazy and comfortable for nothing", he said. "What if the opportunity you seek has already been taken by another person? Asked the man in the mirror. You know very well that whatever you are capable of doing, there are always individuals who can do it seven times better than you. Then some individuals can do it better than those individuals who can do it seven times better than you. What makes you so special, that when you have found the opportunity it will choose you instead of those who can do it better than you?"

Isn't it the quality that these opportunities seek? The man said, "My friend is quality but there is a lot of quality out there better than you."

I thought to myself, "Well the opportunities will choose me because I'm religious but the man in the mirror read my thoughts." He laughed and gave me a response. "You are not your deity nor your GOD's favorite human being. Just look at your life and the life of those whom you admire. I'm sure you have the answer."

"Create an opportunity", the man repeated. Why? I asked myself and a response he gave. I want you to feel the struggle. You need to feel the pain more than the pleasure. This is what will and shall happen when you choose to create an opportunity. Which you must do and not seek one.

The man must be stupid I thought to myself. Has he been silent for some time? Doesn't he know that I have a University or a College degree? He does know, he's just ignorant. I am sure he is aware of the struggle, the pain and the sleepless nights one has to go through to attain a first-class college degree as I have.

Now I have to get paid for the knowledge I have by seeking opportunities rather than creating opportunities. Have I said before, I have no capital or resources. Just my skill to get paid and I cannot use it for myself because I cannot pay myself.

He responded, "There is a problem with the way you think. You are a stereotype. A college degree does not guarantee anything. How many people do you know that have a college degree but are unemployed and struggling to make ends meet? They made the same mistake as you are about to or have already made. Thinking they can use a college degree to seek opportunities instead of creating opportunities with that. They were all too comfortable because of college degrees and it made

them lazy psychologically."

Somehow, I managed to give a vocal response. I responded," The practicality of it, I can't bear it ." When lectured, they never mentioned the aspect of creating opportunities. They would say " the opportunities out there......" or " when you seek opportunities......" That's how they designed or programmed our minds to believe. To be optimistic that the opportunities are there and have to be found. What they didn't tell us, was that the people outnumbered the opportunities and we had to create them.

Well, I can't blame them. Why didn't I think of it? Why didn't I question what they were saying? I was strong psychologically I thought. So why couldn't I come up with a practical solution? Why couldn't I think of creating an opportunity or opportunities?

The man in the mirror responded, "Stop being comfortable with what you have done in the past and accomplished. You have a college degree. So what are you doing with it? Seeking opportunities with it? He continued to ask. What are you without that college degree? Probably you will be the same as you are now or by chance, better off. Because it won't be giving you the comfort of failing to think because you have it. What else can you offer besides the service you are qualified for?"

The man in the mirror continued, "Can you use that college degree to create an opportunity rather than to seek opportunities? Think differently shall you and you will be better off than what you are. Be psychologically and physically fit to get down to business. Be ready to get dirty and do the imaginable of what you thought you would not do. What you were not taught in class or the lecture room.

Create an opportunity for yourself and use it to seek greater opportunities. Can I create an opportunity?" Why should I create an opportunity when I can seek it? I am more comfortable with seeking than creating. Why? Because seeking is less of a hustle than creating. But what choice do I have? Well, I have two choices.

Choice number one is to seek opportunities, or the second choice is to create opportunities.