opportunity is not created equally

” We all have 24hrs in a day, no matter how rich or poor, no matter where you live, no matter what your circumstances. Make the most of yours.” -Time Magazine-

Time isn’t a figment of our imaginations. It is palpable & meaningful, threaded through every breath & move that we independently make. Besides taxes, the time that we spend on earth leading up to our demise is the only permanent thing we can substantiate our lives with that’s truthful. While we all can have 24 hrs to utilize to our advantage, how many of us  actually have the opportunity to capitalize upon them? Are those seconds to make the right decisions available to all that are gifted the moment of life or do the disadvantages of reality make the window of opportunity smaller. Let me explain…

Contradictory to the quote that I used, my belief is that access to success isn’t fairly placed. We all may have the chance at 1440 minutes to exploit to our advantage but those 60 seconds added up trying to obtain the hope of our dreams are spent differently depending on our god given circumstances or from consequences of our environments. Think about it for a moment… If we aren’t allotted the tools of success, how can the time spent fixing our problems be used efficiently?

Gary Vee, a man that I enjoy hearing preach the gospel of a kick ass attitude, recently put out a video about how one spends his time and how that coincides with having to pay your dues to achieve that 1% status. He broke down how people disperse their 24 hrs (or waste) along with the excuses some use when they try to justify why they haven’t accomplished their goals. He crassly enunciated the laziness of our society because we are all given the means of 24 hrs, so the playing field was even to him BUT how is the game to success an even one if circumstances for the players aren’t of the same league? How “doable” is it to set a goal of saving 20,000$ to start your own business in the next 2 years if someone has to work 2 jobs to pay bills, help care for loved ones, deal with a medical issue etc compared to another person who comes from money, has little responsibility, education was paid for and has no real life worries so the ability to save is higher than of the individual who has disadvantages. Here is a real life example for you: Today I was told a story about a 22 yr old boy who went to fire school. His grandfather is a wealthy gentleman and not only paid for all of his expenses during school but the child’s father was also the fire chief. Upon graduating, he chose to work at the same station as his father, granting him political preference. Out of 38 kids from his graduating class 3 were hired, including himself. So let’s reconvene and go over the concept of this again. Gary Vee states that we all have the same 24 hrs to achieve individual success right or obtain the 1% status but how does this concept completely apply to the other 45 people that weren’t chosen for hire due to not having political ties or the means to apply all of their 1440 minutes to their goal like this 22yr old did? Doesn’t really equal up to a fair equation does it?

There are many people that say timing is everything in relation to attaining a certain degree of success; that excuses aren’t warranted because we all can keep our eyes open for opportunity if we want it bad enough. Even if we were to only sleep 3 hours a day, eat 2 meals and alienate any form of social interaction, if you have real life distractions in your peripherals the line of focus becomes blurred. Yes I do believe if you keep a certain attitude of openness during your search for success, that not all of life can engulf your sense; Prime example was my past triumphs in my own company. I had taken advantage of being in recovery from my multiple leg surgeries by going to school and getting my training cert, minoring in business classes as well because I had a plan in mind. After, I worked a full time job and gained enough interest in my skill set through teaching zumba that when I found that prime time opportunity, I took it; opening my business and watching it grow. I had a TON on my plate being that I’ve been on my own for years, but I was thirsty for success and I made sure to utilize my time correctly so that none was wasted. I rarely slept, was sick often, rarely saw loved ones but I was making it happen even though exhaustion often tempted me. I watched many get handed their success for years and in reality the bitterness of my life drove my ambition but clouded my reasonings. The path I took transpired over years of time though, nothing was done overnight. I played the waiting game to get my accolades of success because I had no other choice given the reality of real life. Now, circling back Does timing play a part? Yes. Absolutely it does to accessing our inner most desires but that balance in fulfilling our passions with the demand of our needs isn’t easy at all. So again to say its fair to SEE the opportune moment, while doable, needs a certain individual to be able to accomplish this form of multi tasking. Someone’s chances of success in timing are lessened when the probability of failure is higher due to the demands of their world’s pressures.

I know, I know. You’re saying in your head how this sounds like an excuse but it has discernible evidence backing it. Your level of success, the journey to it, the longevity of it all can majorly be dictated in the opportunities you were given not in which you solely find for yourself. Yes you learn lessons in triumph, in persevering through the onerous duties that make or break us BUT it once again takes a certain person to not only balance the will to survive but to also be able to learn from lessons not being taught due to their faults. Some people are thrown down once, twice, 85 times … but to what point before the human drive dies with the exhaustion in our emotional capacities? Only one being knows that answer, for that power is beyond our doing.

I won’t lie to you. I’ve continually divulged the truth of my life to an audience in order to pay forward the lessons the I have learned, along with help myself become human from the inhumane lifestyle I have lived so far. I’ve grown bitter. Watching so many people blossom in their lives, while I still try to find stability in mine. I’ve gone straight past envy and traveled swiftly into jealousy. I grit my teeth and walk away now when I hear boasting about others prosperity and I was NEVER like that. Being that I am 30 with still nothing to show for it, I’m saddened. I don’t sit on my ass and expect things handed to me. I try diligently to improve on my faults, take risks to get ahead and play nice with others in efforts to make my life a better, less dramatic and more comfortable place but when I see mothers giving their children a home cooked meal or someone boasting about a house they purchased … I guess something dark boils within me. I’ve paid it forward for years, giving my heart when financials weren’t an option and still to this day I genuinely help others because I feel that’s what I was put on this planet to do. For 2 years now I have fought tooth and nail to get back to the once very gratifying success I had.. To say that I came from absolutely nothing to having mostly everything I’ve ever wanted due to my unbreakable, machine like will was what I worked hard for and because I was an idiot in love, I lost EVERYTHING. LEGIT EVERYTHING from a man I allowed to brainwash me. So for 2 years now I have busted my hump trying to regain some of my success in what not only made me happy but also what made me money. People have come and gone. Ideas have came and went. And after moving my life to Florida, the opportunities I thought I was going to have were merely thoughts in the wind yet I still won’t ever use people to get ahead… it’s not in me… I just can’t.

I CRAVE success. More than I hunger for peanut butter and that says something but between trying to find a stable place to live, searching for a job that pays, getting out of a tumultuous relationship and get back on my feet… my 24 hrs are being utilized differently. The yearn I have to be able to sleep in my own bed or breath a sigh of relief at night in a home I have provided would have pushed me in the past, but suffering from exhaustion is taking its toll. I have always bounced back very quickly but this one has kicked my ass hard.

So what do you think? what would you do if you were me? How would you channel your inner titan to once again beat the odds stacked against you? Or would you be complacent and just live everyday one at a time? Easy to SAY what you would do, but read back in my former blogs under my struggles and then make a better judgement call. I’m torn and that is foreign to me because I have always wanted to beat the odds but after seeing how opportunity is comprised of gifts more often then not… I’m on the fence.

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I’ve never left an entry so open ended before…When will time be free for me?