The secret of success is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.
There would always be opportunities that will come, but the question we must honestly ask ourselves, is this: “Are we ready for that golden opportunity”?
Some opportunity may come in form of challenges, and we all know that many folks shy away from challenges.
Some individual may have just one opportunity to turn their destiny around.
How then can we utilize opportunities that come our way?

Be prepared for Opportunities
Some individuals are presented with opportunities on a platter of gold, but they cannot discern it.
I once had an uncle who worked in an oil Firm for close to eight years.
While he was there, he was earning more than a thousand dollars monthly ($1000) as salary.
Unfortunately for him, he was not prepared for the opportunity he had.
In 2008, he fell a victim to downsizing of the oil firm, and became jobless.
He neither had a building of his own, nor did he have any form of investment to fall on.
He was not prepared for what had hit him, because he failed to tap into the opportunity he had.

Use that opportunity
To succeed in life, you must not only see an opportunity, but use it.
Opportunities can be compared to a door key.
As long as we do not use the key to open any door, the key will remain useless.

There was this young actress who went to visit an uncle in the office for some personal issues.
While there, she had a chance encounter with a movie director, who jokingly asked her if she would be interested in a role in his upcoming movie.
She had a flair for acting and did not hesitate to give an answer.
She was invited to auditioning and became the lead character in the movie.
That single opportunity transformed her life and career!
She not only saw an opportunity, but used it fully to her advantage.
Wait patiently for that opportunity
Patience is a virtue which so many individual are not prepared to cultivate. So many are hasty to attain stardom, and ultimately miss the opportunity to become what God have destined them to become.
Emmanuel Amuneke, the most celebrated Nigerian soccer player, possessed this virtue in abundance.
At the 1994 African Nations Cup held in the beautiful country of Tunisia, he never got to play any of the group matches.
The Nigerian Coach- Clemens Westerhof knew what he was doing, and Emmanuel Amuneke was not in haste to jump into the field. He waited patiently for the opportunity to shine.
At last the opportunity came in the final against a young Chipolopolo of Zambia, and Emmanuel Amuneke was introduced into the game as a joker.
He ended up scoring the two clinical goals that clinched gold for Nigeria. His patience had finally paid off and the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) named him the African Footballer for the year 1994.
He patiently waited another two years and once again emerged the hero of the Nigerian soccer team to Atlanta Olympics game, when he scored the winning goal in Nigeria 2-1 victory over Argentina in the final. He came in as a substitute with few minutes left in the match and his exploits earned him fame and fortune world wide.
You see, you never know when the door of opportunity is going to open wide. For some, the big break can come early in life and for others later on. But for all of those who become successful, there is one key similarity: They were ready. And for every one of those who were ready to wait for their time, the golden opportunity eventually came.
So, the principle for us is: Be patient!


Never let that opportunity to slip away
There are thousands of individuals who patiently wait for the opportunity of a lifetime to shine, and when the big break come their way, they throw it away with their own hands!
The Nigeria National Football team the Super Eagles went to the 2002 World Cup in Korea Japan and performed badly in their first two matches, losing 1-0 to Argentina, and 2-1 to Sweden.
Nigeria had a certain Ike Shorunmu in goal for the first two matches, and when the third and final match against England came calling, the then Super Eagles coach- Chief Adegboye Onigbinde decided to make a string of changes, and on came Goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama who was the only home based player in the team
He made a world class save off a well taken shot from Paul Scholes of England to cap a brilliant outing.
The match eventually ended 0-0, and Vincent Enyeama cemented his place as Nigeria’s Number one choice goal keeper.
He never allowed that single opportunity to shine at the world stage slip throw through his fingers. He grabbed it with both hands.
In concluding, it must be noted that some may have just one opportunity in a lifetime; others may have three opportunities while some may have up to ten opportunities to shine.
We must not allow any opportunity to go underutilized, because it may be the only opportunity we may ever be presented with.
Be prepared, be patient and never allow that opportunity slip away!


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