Waiting For Success – A Story About Making it Happen

Morning mist on Lake Mapourika, New Zealand. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There was a young man who would go the shore everyday and sit on the edge of the pier looking out into the ocean.

One day, an older man came to him and asked, “What are you looking at?”

“See that boat out there?” the young man replied, “I’m waiting for it to come to me.”

“What’s so special about that boat?” the older man asked.

“Can’t you see what it’s called?”

The older man squinted his eyes and shook his head.

“Nope, I can’t read it.”

“It’s called Success.”

The older man rolled his eyes, “So what you’re telling me is that you come here everyday waiting for success to come to you?”

“That’s right.” said the younger man with a far away look in his eyes.

“You’re dreaming!  You’ve got to go out and meet success, not wait for it to come to you!”

The younger man just shrugged his shoulders and muttered something under his breath as the older man walked away.

The next morning, the two men met again on the pier.

The older man stripped down to his swimming costume and was about to jump into the water when the younger man grabbed him by the arm.

“What are you doing?” asked the younger man.

“I’m going out to meet success.  Do you want to come too?”

“You’re crazy, you’ll drown out there!”

“I’d rather drown trying to reach success, than sit here on the shore waiting in vain for it to come to me!”

And with a splash, he dived into the water.

I have one question for you today.

Which person are you?

Previous post – The Difference Between Spending and Investing Time

Next post - Don’t Eat Fortune’s Cookie