Maulana Wahiduddin Khan I Principles of Life
“Starve the problems, feed the opportunities”: thus goes an old saying. Simple words but imbued with great profundity. One who understands their message and acts accordingly will find the doors of success opening to him, while one who lives in ignorance of them will find all doors closed to him.
The crux of the matter is that man in this world is forever caught in between problems and opportunities. But whatever problems he has to contend with, there are always golden opportunities, not too far away, just waiting to be availed. This is true equally of individuals, communities and nations–all find themselves in the same situation.
And it is here that people are being tested in this world. One person, seeing only the problems that confront him becomes caught up in them. Such a person is bound to miss his opportunities. On the other hand, one who concentrates on using the opportunities available to him as best he can, will not find much time to worry about the problems afflicting him. If one ‘feeds’ problems, inevitably one is going to ‘starve’ opportunities, while if it is opportunities one ‘feeds’, it will be the problems that are left hungry. To make the most of opportunities, we have to make light of problems.
Experience shows that, far from helping anyone, becoming caught up in problems just leads to gloominess and depression and from the practical point of view, is a waste of time. It is better to concentrate on making the best use of one’s opportunities. Not only will new avenues open before us, but the problems that so afflicted us will gradually pale into insignificance.