Richard L. Evans
The Spoken Word
2 March 1969
ON BECOMING QUALIFIED
There is something George Eliot said that has overtones for all of us: “What is opportunity to the man who can’t use it?”
These words have special meaning for those living in that time of life which is, or should be, a period of preparation. Life goes swiftly. Responsibilities increase; opportunities to prepare diminish, and one can scarcely conceive of a young person’s ignoring the opportunity to develop a talent or skill, to prepare for a trade or profession, for a larger role in life.
One could scarcely explain why anyone with opportunity to learn would ever choose to drop out, just to drift, and leave himself open for frustration and disappointment for the future. Life is all we have — life, our hands, our minds, our muscles, our spirit, our willingness to prepare, our willingness to work.
Oh, if only we could implant in the minds and hearts of young people the blessing of an education, the blessing of choosing some good goal and moving toward it, the blessing of becoming qualified, and avoiding the disappointments that come later in life when demand for the untrained shrinks, as the economic cycle shifts.
Life, mind, time, talents— these are tools, these are instruments that should be sharpened as suitably as possible for enduring and increasing and satisfying service. “The secret of success,” said Disraeli, “… is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.” If there are any whom we could reach and touch at this time, we would plead with every young person to pursue his education, his preparation, and improve himself to the finest point possible; to acquire competence, to qualify for life, for learning, for living; to know something well, to do something well, to have something to offer; to avoid being a marginal person, to be more useful to family, community, country, and also serve himself, and have the great satisfaction that comes with being needed, wanted, appreciated, compensated. “What is opportunity to the man who can’t use it?”
It is sad when someone sees an opportunity that is outside grasping range when that one could have stetched out with a bit of training and practice. Worse still is not trying because the value of the prize is deemed not worth the effort. The former will eventually develop reach to catch the next opportunity while the latter will never try.