The Gate Only Opens Once: A lesson in Opportunity

When opportunity knocks, it's already too late to prepare.

There's a Zen saying: "You can't sharpen the sword after the battle begins."

Opportunity doesn't wait. It tests you at the level of your training.

The call comes in.

The opening appears. The person you've been hoping to meet turns and looks you in the eye.

In that moment, you either are ready or you are not.

No time to gather your thoughts. No time to flip through old notes. The chance passes or becomes something real, depending on the preparation you did in silence.

In private.

Without applause.

This is why builders stage materials before the concrete is poured, why we double-check measurements before the crane arrives, and why we sweep the floor before the inspector walks in.

Because when the gate opens, it doesn't swing slowly.

It creaks.

It yawns.

Then it shuts.

I've missed that gate before. I've stood on the wrong side of it, holding ideas I hadn't shaped, talents I hadn't sharpened, and wondering why things didn't go my way.

Now I live differently.

Every day is training.

Every draft,

every sketch,

every walkthrough, it all counts.

Even when no one's watching. Especially when no one's watching.

Because readiness isn't built in the moment, it's revealed in the moment.

And if you want to be the one who walks through, you can't wait to start preparing when the hinges start to move.

Field Note: Train like the gate could open tomorrow. Because someday, it will. "Sonae Areba Urei Nashi", which means "if you are prepared, you will have no worries".