<p>Prompt:</p>
<p>" Everything comes if a man will only wait."
- Benjamin Disraeli, Tancred</p>
<p>“Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.”
- William Jennings Bryan, Memoirs</p>
<p>Assignment: Should we wait for good things to come, or is destiny not something we can wait for?</p>
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<p>Martin Luther King once wrote that the greatest obstacle to justice for the Blacks was not the opposition of white supremacists but instead it was that of the white moderate who believed that the day of the Blacks “would eventually come” but that at that point in time, Blacks were not prepared for a greater social rule. Like Dr. King, I believe that instead of waiting for favorable conditions to converge in a success, one should achieve for himself such favorable results by shelving the notion that ‘destiny’ is not in our hands.</p>
<p>Patience is a virtue, and likewise, waiting for a desired end result is by no means wrong unless if one is waiting under the mistaken impression that ‘destiny’ will overcome all circumstances in order to bring one a favorable end result. </p>
<p>‘Destiny’ has always been a refuge for those inherently lacking in self-confidence. Abandoning the notion that one should wait for good things to come to him, it is crucial to remember that the path to self-actualization is hardly set in stone.</p>
<p>Gandhi was another man who strongly believed against the idea that waiting would always yield favorable results. He believe in working as hard as possible and taking the initiative to be ahead in one’s work. His philosophy is perhaps best epitomized in one of his sayings, which has gone on to attain proverbial status in India, “Do today’s work now, tomorrow’s work today, and the work of the day after tomorrow.” Gandhian principles rest squarely on the belief that hard work would be rewarded handsomely.</p>
<p>Bill Gates, once the richest man alive, probably never imagined that his ‘destiny’ would hold in store for him the billions of dollars and the international fame that he earned as the head of Microsoft. In fact, Bill Gates, a Harvard dropout had taken a long and tumultuous path to success. His success was undoubtedly a triumph of careful planning, skill and determination instead of the triumph of Gates’ ‘destiny’.</p>
<p>In the fast and competitive world we inhabit today, the belief that our ‘destinies’ will manifest themselves by waiting for a favorable convergence of conditions is akin to shooting ourselves in the foot. True success is achieved not by the man who waits for it, but by the man who earns it.</p>