"He who asks may be a fool for five minutes. He who doesn’t is a fool for a lifetime,” goes the wise Chinese’s proverb. It makes me think I an ad I read in the classifieds recently that said, “To the beautiful woman in the brown suede coat at the chemist at xyz on Saturday, November 28 @ 4pm. You bumped into me in front of the magazine section. I would love to meet and chat”. The man who placed this ad then left his phone number. Destiny had given him an opportunity – possibly to meet the woman of this dreams – and he had squandered it. And now, after regretting the fact that he “did not ask” he has had to resort to placing an ad in the newspaper in the desperate hop of finding this woman.
The more you ask, the more you get, but it takes practice to get good at it. Success is a numbers game. As the Buddhist sages observed, “Every arrow that hits the bull’s eye is the result of one hundred misses”. Over the coming weeks, flex your “asking muscles” by asking for a better table at your favourite restaurant, for a free second scoop at your local ice-cream shop, or for a complimentary upgrade on your next airline flight. You might be surprised at the abundance that will flow into your life when you just ask sincerely for the things you want.
Remember, the person who asks for what he wants at least has a chance of getting what he wants. The person who does not ask has no chance. “It’s a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it”.
By Robin Sharma (Who Will Cry When You die?)
