Taking Advantage of an Opportunity

This is an anecdote of a Kabuki actor, Sojuro Sawamura the First*1, who made Genroku Kabuki*2 flourish. It was upon his final performance, where all the actors were quite nervous to support the brilliant close of the career of this master of Kabuki.
“Allow me to inform you. Allow me to inform you. Allow me…”
In a scene, one of the actors had forgotten his lines and got flustered. Sojuro, who noticed this, promptly said,
“It sounds like highly confidential. Come closer, come.”
　With that, he invited the actor, who inched along toward Sojuro and whispered,
“I’m sorry. I forgot the lines.”　
Sojuro listened to this with his hands over the ear, and then put his hands over the mouth and said,
“I think this is enough. Just say ‘That’s it, Sir’ and get yourself out of the stage. It will work.”
The actor raised his voice to say “That’s it, Sir,” and got himself out of the stage. It did work and the stage performance could go on.
I admire the prompt response of Sojuro, who had a quick wit and took advantage of the opportunity. It must be something that could be done because of his many years of discipline and magnanimity as a person.
*1Kabuki actors inherit their names, like Sojuro Sawamura the 2nd, Sojuro Sawamura the 3rd, etc.
*2Kabuki thrived during the Genroku period (16731735). The structure of a Kabuki play was formalized during this period. Conventional character types were determined.　
　When Mr. Gaishi Hiraiwa (Former President/Chairman of the Tokyo Electric Power Company, Incorporated) was young, he worked as a secretary to the then president, Mr. Kazutaka Kigawada. During the period, when the president Kigawada tuned his face to Mr. Hiraiwa, he could tell what the president wanted to say, and what the president wanted him to do. He could enable such miracles, as he always tried to become single-minded with the president, and lived a time shared with the president.

”I Ching”, one of the oldest of the Chinese classic texts, says, “Isn’t it the God who sees signs and can predict an incident faster than anyone else?” It also teaches us, “If you seize an opportunity, execute it immediately.”

　Then, what should we do to take advantage of an opportunity? I believe the requirements can be summarized into the following 4 items.
　The first item is “sincerity.” Work wholeheartedly, and you will see that “sincerity reaches heaven”, functioning like God. This is something everyone who lived seriously has been insisting upon since ancient times.
　The next item is “agility.” You have to maintain a positive sense of tension, in order for you to have something that rings a bell. The following are the words of Mr. Masahiro Yasuoka*3.
“The core meaning of agility is to make your mind and body work, so as to be careful as much as you can, to be helpful, to serve frequently in order to make your life beautiful, for your work, for your friends, and for the world. In plain words, never slack off and always stay agile. Instead, you can substantially slack off when it comes to mundane things in the world.”
　The third item is “commitment.” Surprisingly, people are not good at making commitments. “Shu Ching”, another oldest of the Chinese classic texts, says, “Everyone has his or her own important mission. However, there have not been many people who commit to the mission since olden days.” Most people end up lukewarm. However, there is a stage that only those who commit can reach.
　The last item is “courage.” Be constantly active. If you hesitate, you can’t take advantage of an opportunity.
*3 Mr. Masahiro Yasuoka was a famous scholar of Oriental philosophy. He was a spiritual advisor to many high-ranking members of Japan's political and business elite, including a number of postwar prime ministers.

　Let’s learn how to take advantage of an opportunity from each life of those active in his or her own field.

⇒　Chichi WEB (Japanese version)