The proverb quoted above
is intended to impress upon our minds the desirability of catching time by the
forelock. A blacksmith strikes the iron when it is red-hot for then it is soft
and he can would it into whatever shape he likes. But if by negligence or
carelessness he allows it to cool, no amount
of hammering will have any effect. In the same way it is advisable for
human beings to seize an opportunity as soon as it presents itself and not to
wait until it is too late. Just as the hot iron grows could quickly. So an
opportunity always on the lookout for opportunities and grasps them as soon as
they appear.
In the olden days, when
the departure of a ship upon its voyage depended upon the tide, the sailors
used to wait for it anxiously; as soon as it rose they sailed away. Missing the
tide meant postponement of the voyage.
Many people fail in life
because they do not learn the lesson of striking when iron is hot. Take the
case of a businessman to whom a good bargain is proposed. If he is sensible, he
will at once close with it but if he becomes unduly suspicious and takes too
long weighing the pros and cons of the offer, the same bargaining may be
offered to somebody else. This is not to say that one should not use one’s
judgement in such matters; but excessive caution is ill-advised: one must push
one’s advantage as that may be the only chance. A subordinate can easily obtain
a rise in his salary as a reward for faithful service, prodded that he can
catch his employer in a mood of satisfaction with York, and that he makes a
timely’ request.
But if this proverb is
true of war. it is no less true of life. If a suitor is on the alert for the
right moment. His proposal of marriage may be rewarded with a ‘yes’. But it
often happens that a lady is in two minds about a suitor, and if he is not
prompt in making use of his opportunity, the whole affair may end disastrously
for him.
Striking when the iron is hot may
be regarded as the key to success in life. Except in rare cases in which
success comes purely by accident, those persons are the likeliest to reap the
richest harvest in life that makes the most of their opportunities as they
occur.