16.Opportunity

 16.Opportunity

The air we breathe is so freely available that we take it for granted. Yet without it we could not survive more than a few minutes. For the most part, the same air is available to everyone, and everyone needs it. Some people use the air to sustain them while they sit around and feel sorry for themselves. Others breathe in the air and use the energy it provides to make a magnificent life for themselves.

Opportunity is the same way. It is everywhere. Opportunity is so freely available that we take it for granted. Yet opportunity alone is not enough to create success. Opportunity must be seized and acted upon in order to have value. So many people are so anxious to "get in" on a "ground floor opportunity", as if the opportunity will do all the work. That's impossible. Just as you need air to breathe, you need opportunity to succeed. It takes more than just breathing in the fresh air of opportunity, however. You must make use of that opportunity. That's not up to the opportunity. That's up to you. It doesn't matter what "floor" the opportunity is on. What matters is what you do with it.

available adj.可用的，可得到的，有用的，有效的

sustain vt.承受，支持，经受，维持，认可

minutes n.会议记录，(复数)分钟

opportunity n.机会，时机

survive vt.比...活得长，幸免于难，艰难度过