Having an opportunity is not the same as making the most of it

Let’s compare a group of historical figures.

Tang Bohu was two years older than Wang Yangming.

At age sixteen, he ranked first in the xiucai exam in Suzhou Prefecture.

Suzhou Prefecture belonged to the Nan Zhili during the Ming Dynasty. Nan Zhili was known as the region with the strongest scholars in the empire, and Suzhou Prefecture was known as the strongest within Nan Zhili. He was exceptionally talented even as a child.

Wang Yangming was no slouch either. He passed the xiucai exam at seventeen, three years after Tang Bohu, simply because he was two years younger.

Of course, Wang Yangming’s xiucai degree came from Zhejiang. The Jiangzhe area was renowned for its strong exam performance throughout the Ming Dynasty, so his qualification carried plenty of weight.

So at what age did Wang Yangming pass the provincial exam?

Four years later, at twenty-one.

Meanwhile, the twenty-three-year-old Tang Bohu was doing what?Indulging in pleasure and entertainment.

Wang Yangming kept taking exams, failing again and again. It wasn’t until he was twenty-eight that he finally passed the jinshi exam.

Tang Bohu was thirty at this point.

That same year, Tang Bohu really made a splash because he had just passed the provincial exam, topping the jieyuan exam in Ying天府 — modern-day Nanjing.

Jieyuan means first place in the provincial exam.

That was quite impressive too, coming in first across the entire Nan Zhili.

His fame spread instantly. That’s how he became known as the leader of the Four Great Talents of Jiangnan — Tang Yin, Mr. Jieyuan.

How many years did Tang Bohu actually put in from age sixteen to thirty?The answer is one.

From sixteen to twenty-nine, he partied and frolicked. His father ran a big wine and restaurant business — something movies always show us. He spent his days and nights in drunken revelry.

Meanwhile, across the border in Zhejiang, candidate Wang Yangming studied hard at home.Tang Bohu partied until twenty-nine; Wang Yangming studied diligently until twenty-eight.

Later, bolstered by his reputation as the top talent in Jiangnan, Tang Bohu headed to the capital for the metropolitan exam. He paid a visit to an important political figure and gave him some gifts.

The VIP appreciated him and shared some scholarly insights.

Boldly wearing the title of Nan Zhili’s top scorer, Tang Jieyuan went around boasting to all the other candidates who had come for the exam.

Such and such VIP met with me today and we discussed this and that.Such and such VIP invited me to dinner tomorrow; we talked about this and that.

Candidates from every province now knew about this remarkable figure from Nan Zhili, whose name echoed through the capital.

Just before the exam, the VIP Tang Bohu had gifted happened to be appointed as chief examiner.The exam questions happened to cover topics he and Tang Bohu had discussed during their private meeting,and those private conversations happened to be spread by Tang Bohu to everyone he met, until every candidate knew.

As soon as the exam began and the papers were handed out, scholars erupted in murmurs.Isn’t this what Tang Bohu told us about? Isn’t this what the chief examiner discussed with him beforehand?This sparked an examination fraud scandal. The chief examiner was thrown into prison, and so was Tang Bohu.

Eventually, the investigation revealed that it had all been a series of coincidences. Unfortunately, Tang Bohu’s scholarly title was stripped from him,and he was banned from taking the civil service exams for life.

After that, he grew destitute, supporting himself by selling paintings until he died.

Wang Yangming didn’t have it easy either.

He passed the jinshi exam at twenty-eight. Eight years later, he was dismissed from office, flogged, and exiled to Guizhou for submitting a memorial criticizing the powerful eunuch Liu Jin as a treacherous official. He was even hunted along the way,forcing him to hide in caves and contemplate the Way.

The rest of the story is well known: Wang Yangming eventually became a sage, achieving greatness in action, virtue, and words — governing the state with literature and securing the realm with military skill, while also founding the School of Mind.

Tang Bohu was undeniably a top-tier genius. At sixteen, he ranked first in Suzhou Prefecture; after one year of review, he ranked first in Nan Zhili.Even if he were forbidden from taking exams, he’d still be the best painter in the field.

Yet despite being gifted such astonishing talent, he couldn’t achieve his own ambitions or accomplish even one thing according to his wishes during his lifetime.

Why do you think that is?

Because he never knew how to cherish what he had.

As the top scholar from Nan Zhili traveling to the capital for the metropolitan exam, he behaved so ostentatiously and spoke without restraint. How did the top scorers from other provinces feel?Did everyone in the world wish you success?When you conduct yourself and handle things this way, it only shows that you never learned to cherish.You didn’t cherish others’ confidence in you or their support, so you dragged the chief examiner down too.

Not knowing how to cherish means you’re unreliable.

And so you end up becoming an artist — artists ride their imagination freely, and reliability isn’t particularly required.

Now look at Wang Yangming. He was truly reliable, truly understanding how to cherish.

Seizing an opportunity doesn’t mean you can fully internalize it.

To internalize an opportunity means the next time, someone will still be willing to give you one.

If you seize it but fail to internalize it, there won’t be a next time. How then can the snowball of your future grow?

Only when you pour every ounce of your life into each opportunity will heaven grant you a second or third chance.