Grab the golden opportunities in life

POSITIVE ATTITUDE: Aiyo apparadey chance eka miss unnah (What a shame I missed an opportunity). This saying is very commonly heard on the road, on the bus and at your workplace.

We can eliminate this saying if we re-wind our minds and erase the words nah and bah (no and not possible).

I recently fell down and injured my elbow. I had run out of plasters so I drove to the nearest mini-mart.

I went to a person who was stocking up the shelves and asked if they had plasters available, he immediately answered by saying, “No. I’m sorry I don’t think we have any plasters”.

His words kept echoing in my head “I don’t think, I don’t think” - I asked him his name. he replied “Supun”. Thank god he didn’t have to think about that! I asked him to accompany me in my search for plasters in his mart, after searching every shelf, I flashed a smile at him as if I had struck gold.

“Supun I think you seem to have plasters after all”, he was very embarrassed.

My point is Supun made a very common mistake that most sales people do. they let go of the opportunity of making a sale either because they are lazy, or they can’t remember their goal.

By this they will simply lose their customer.

Customers go into a store and make inquiries about a product when they have an idea of purchasing an item, it is up to sales people to use their brains and make a sale.

Have you ever heard of customers pressing a sales person till he goes insane forcing the person to sell a product?

Adjust your heart and mind in a way that you will have the power to think positively.

I remember a recent conversation I had with a little girl the other day. We were watching a dance on television by an Indian dance troupe.

She was watching the dance without even blinking.

She then started imitating the dancers and then stopped abruptly when she made a mistake.

I asked her why she stopped and encouraged her to continue her dance. She turned around and said “I can’t do it, I can never dance like them”.

It’s okay to make mistakes, what we have to learn is how we made the mistake and to make sure that it doesn’t occur again.

If we give up and lose confidence we are allowing an unwanted pause in our lives which might lead to a permanent full stop. To move forward we must create a hunger for knowledge.

We must strive to make the impossible possible for the betterment of our country and for ourselves.

Never stop to think that you are not good enough. Always value yourself. If we don’t value ourselves first, we will never be able to help ourselves prosper.

If you ever find yourself stuck in a situation where the opportunity of achieving something is there and it’s not coming your way, take a look at the big picture. Examine your strategy.

Re-play your approach, presentation and technique. There is probably something lacking in those sectors. There is always room for improvement and therefore we should correct these errors in the strategy and achieve the possible which we believe is impossible.

Grab that golden opportunity making your aspirations a reality. When I first started my career as an actress everything and everyone around me was negative. Yet I recognised my challenges and dealt with each obstruction.

I have reached some of my goals but I have yet to conquer many worlds. Rather than spending time going out and partying, the joy you receive when you achieve something is far greater.

As citizens of Mother Lanka we have the opportunity to build a stronger foundation for a new beginning. I beg of you not to hesitate. Don’t be afraid. Take the initiative and make use of opportunities given to you. We can all be proud to be Sri Lankan.

Opportunities are floating around us. Before a gust of wind blows them away be brave and show the world what you are made of. Nawa jeewana demini nithina apa pubudukaran maatha.