Make Hay While Sun Shines

Hay is grass cut and dried for use as animal food. The proverb exhorts us to make hay while there is sunshine, that is, to dry the grass by exposing it to sun, for in Western countries it is scarce. The figurative meaning of the proverb is that we should make the earliest use of our opportunities.

In order to attain success in any undertaking, individuals and must have adequate resources and certain qualities like courage, heroism and skill. Another important, though uncertain, factor which contributes to success is friendliness of circumstance, availability of suitable opportunities. We often observe that admirable qualities and heroic endeavor come to grief when circumstances are hostile. It is of utmost importance that ambitious individuals and nations should have an eye for suitable opportunities and seize them when they occur. As Cassius puts in in Julius Caesar.

There is tide in affairs of men, which taken at flood, leads on to fortune. But once omitted, all the rest of life is bound in shadows and misery.

Favorable opportunities do not come often, and it would be an irretnavable blunder to let them slip by either not perceiving them or failing to make use of them through cowardice and hesitation.

Mahatma Gandhi had an uncanny sense of right moments for launching the Civil Disobedience Movement. The ‘Quit India Movement’, for example for timed admirably. The people were more politically conscious that at any other time and were ready for action, while the British were engaged in the war against Germany. Though Gandhi supported the British war aims, he felt that the psychological moment for dealing a final blow to British India has come. He was justified in the sequel. The ‘Quit India’ agitation played a decisive part in hastening Indian Independence. If we read biographies of successful men, we will find that secret of their success lies in effective time management and grabbing of the ripe opportunity on time. Conversely, the story of ambitious men who have failed largely in time is largely the stories of lost opportunities and futile regret.

Most people miss great opportunities, because of their misperception of time. Don't wait as time can never be just right.
                                                                                                               Stephan C. Hogks


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