Maulana Wahiduddin Khan | The Sunday Guardian | November 20, 2016, p. 12

Someone has rightly said, "A day you have lived fully was your day. All other days are simply dates on your calendar." There are two ways of leading your life. One is to simply pass your time, and the other is to avail of your time. If you live just to pass time, you are simply wasting your life.

But if you spend your days meaningfully, you are truly living. You are making proper use of this amazing blessing that is called life. Every new day brings with it many opportunities.

These opportunities do not loudly announce themselves. Rather, they speak very silently. It is for us to recognize them and to use them in a properly-planned manner.

You need to be able to skillfully discern the opportunities that come your way every new day. You should be able to appreciate how the opportunities that are indeed for you can be availed of in a peaceful way. You need to be able to know the best and most realistic way of employing these opportunities.

There is another very important thing you need to remember while setting about using the many opportunities that come your way every day. And that is that you are not alone in this world.

Just as you want to go ahead with making your life, there are vast numbers of other people who are impelled with the very same purpose. If you want to succeed in your life, it is very important for you not to come into conflict with others. Just as you have some interests, others, too, have their own interests.

A successful person carefully avoids clashing with other people's interests and sails ahead to attain the purpose of her or his life.