Opportunities Are Not Earned But Given

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The traditional norm passed down right from our parents and even society down to the current generation about life is the bizarre belief that when you go to school, work hard and follow some predetermined steps, we are bound to become financially successful and for as long as I can remember I completely believed in this perspective. It was a canon advice that shaped my view on life and how I lived it. I refused to indulge in any activity that I perceived to be disconnected from academics. After high school, I shunned the idea of acquiring a vocational skill because I felt it was a distraction from my life long ambition which restricted me from countless opportunities. This continued for years until circumstances forced me to get a job. As time went by, I realized that the idea of working hard, going to school and with the right opportunity to get a well earned job is an illusion and a belief that is simply used as a medium to motivate young adults.

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Early this year I applied for a job at a firm and about a week later I received a message inviting me for an interview. When I got there, I realized there were tons of other young vibrant applicants like myself also vying for the same position. The Human Resources Director who was in charge of the screening potential employees ushered in all the applicants in pairs of two so when it got to my turn, I entered with the guy sitting right next to me. During the interview, there were a lot of things I got wrong and to be honest I was largely under qualified for the job. The guy on the other hand was the perfect fit, smart, good looking and was even a professional computer literate while I am still struggling to get my way around excel. After the interview, the strangest thing happened, I got the job but the other guy who was clearly supposed to didn't why?? Because the officer said the guy did not dress properly for the interview and something about their personalities not aligning screwed up his chances even more despite barely knowing him . What a feeble reason.

I was already having doubts about how the world truly operates and experiencing this stuff happen first hand rocked my beliefs to the core.
In life there is always someone smarter, faster, better than you at everything and yet when the opportunity presents itself you get picked and he doesn't. It's not because you earned it, it is because someone prefers you more and hands it over just like I was handed my job even though I quit a week later🤣🤣🤣.