Opportunity Is ‘In’ the Person, If...?

Let’s start with a thought that could change all our lives. Opportunity is in the person, not the job. 

Here's an account of someone who could have given up, thrown in the towel, and lived in bitterness the rest of their life. This person chooses to overcome, not to be overcome. Zig Ziglar writes about this person in his book Something to Smile About. Read on.

When Castro and his Communist regime took over Cuba, the socialist system replaced free enterprise, and many successful people were devastated. Carlos Arboleya, an accounts officer for one of the largest banks in Cuba, was one of them. In 1960, shortly after Castro took over, Carlos arrived at work and discovered that the Communists had taken over all private banks. 

Three weeks later, he was able to get himself, his wife, and his small son out of Cuba. The only problem was Carlos arrived in America with only $42.00 in cash. He was unemployed, had no place to stay, and did not know anyone in Miami. Carlos sought employment by going to every bank in Miami, but they all turned him down. He finally found a job in a shoe factory, taking inventory.

Carlos worked enthusiastically and with enormous energy, putting in countless extra hours. The results were spectacular, and he was manager of the shoe company within sixteen months. A short time later, he was offered a job at the bank where the shoe company did business. From there, he moved into the presidency of America's largest chain of banks.

Carlos Arboleya did what he had to do (provide for his family) by taking a job he was overqualified for and eventually landed the position he desired. He proved that it is not where you start but that you start which counts. Speaker Joe Sabah puts it this way: “You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.” 

Carlos's story is a vignette in the overall picture of America. It's a land where anyone who will apply themselves and grow in the job can move forward to unique success. This story is evidenced by the fact that 80 percent of all millionaires in America are first-generation Americans. Think about it, give it your best shot and your success chances increase dramatically.

This story is not unique, as proven by the fact that 80 percent of all millionaires in America were first-generation Americans when this article was written. I understand that not everyone will become the president of a chain of banks, but wherever you end up, at least the opportunity is in America to try. And when 'opportunity' wants to dance with you, you had better be on the dance floor. Someone once said, "Most people don't see an opportunity until the opportunity ceases to be one." 

I call people like Carlos people who overcome. There's something special about people who overcome. They are contagious. You want to be around them. They look differently, think differently, and act differently. Even in tremendous adversity, they are not overcome but overcome. Whether Daniel in a lion's den, Joseph in a pit, Nehemiah rebuilding a city in shambles, Abraham not knowing where he was going, Elijah chased by an angry Jezebel, Abigail in a terrible marriage, John on a deserted island, Paul and Silas in jail, Jesus on a cross, or the disciples on a wild, wild boat ride in the middle of a raging sea, overcomers seem to get to the other side of the lake.

Carlos Arboleya and the biblical examples above (and you, if…?) are examples of who Henry Ford was talking about in his famous quote, “I am looking for a lot of men (anyone) who have an infinite capacity to not know what can't be done." 

Monday Morning Coffee perfectly captures the concept of 'overcoming' in the following observation. 

“Interestingly, often, the only opinion worth listening to is your own. Often, the opinions of others reflect their own limitations - and have nothing to do with achieving your dreams. Imagine how shallow the world would be today if the following individuals had listened to their critics: Arnold Schwarzenegger's family said, "How long will you go on training all day in a gymnasium and living in a dream world?" Mary Kay Ash's attorney advised two weeks before her first store opening, "Liquidate the business right now and recoup whatever cash you can. If you don't, you'll end up penniless." His teachers to Ray Charles: "You can't play the piano, and God knows you can't sing. You'd better learn how to weave chairs to support yourself." What Diana Ross heard her teacher say when auditioning for a high school play: "You have a nice voice, but it's nothing special."

Get the message? Sometimes, like Carlos, you must do something you hate to get to something you love. Like Carlos, you must build a bridge and get over it. You must visit the vast, unpopulated land of plenty and opportunity called 'The Extra Mile.’

Let’s finish with this quote by Hellen Keller, the first deaf and blind person in the United States to earn a college degree, about overcoming: "Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of overcoming it. My optimism does not rest on the absence of evil but on a glad belief in the preponderance of good and a willing effort always to cooperate with the good, that it may prevail."

So, going back to the title of this article, here’s the answer. Opportunity Is ‘In’ the Person If They Would Only Realize It.