The air we breathe is so freely available that we take it for granted. Yet without it we could not survive more than a few minutes. For the most part, the same air is available to everyone, and everyone needs it. Some people use the air to sustain them while they sit around and feel sorry for themselves. Others breathe in the air and use the energy it provides to make a magnificent life for themselves.

　　Opportunity is the same way. It is everywhere. Opportunity is so freely available that we take it for granted. Yet opportunity alone is not enough to create success. Opportunity must be seized and acted upon in order to have value. So many people are so anxious to "get in" on a "ground floor opportunity", as if the opportunity will do all the work. That’s impossible.

　　Just as you need air to breathe, you need opportunity to succeed. It takes more than just breathing in the fresh air of opportunity, however. You must make use of that opportunity. That’s not up to the opportunity. That’s up to you. It doesn’t matter what "floor" the opportunity is on. What matters is what you do with it.

　　空氣到處都有，我們是如此容易得到它，以至我們常將其易得性視為理所當然。可一旦失去它，我們只能活幾分鐘。基本上，誰都能呼吸到空氣，誰都需要空氣。有的人呼吸空氣只為碌碌無為地生活著，或是在懊悔中度過余生。有的人呼吸空氣并利用它提供的能量使自己的生活絢麗多彩。

　　機會也是如此。機會無處不在。機會如此易得以至我們對此視為理所當然。然而只有機會并不能獲得成功，而必須抓住機會，見機行事，創造佳績。許多人都渴望能奪得先機，似乎只要奪得先機就能萬事大吉。這是不可能的。

　　正如你需要呼吸空氣一樣，你需要機會才能成功。然而成功靠的并不僅僅是隨手可得的機會。你必須利用機會。成功并不取決于機會，而是取決于你。重要的并不是你在哪一個階段遇見機會，而是面對機會你是如何把握的。