“To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour.”
William Blake
Auguries of Innocence
My favourite place to visit is… my dentist’s surgery.
I’m lying prone on my back on a flat bed, the LED light beaming into my eyes, blinding me.
An inch-thick cube of rubber (a “spacer”) is placed between my lower and upper jaw. A film of latex (a” dental dam”) covers the full opening of my mouth to prevent saliva from escaping.
It’s at that very moment that Dr Ania decides to converse with me.
“We are so lucky. Our expansion and renovation were completed last week. Starting from a 2,000-square-foot clinic, we now occupy the entire floor—20,000 square feet—and have increased our staff to 30. Who would have thought we could achieve so much? What do you think of our new place?” she asks.
I reply, “Agggagahh, wagaggah, ohh, ohh ohh,” and the like.
What I mean to say is: “When opportunity knocked, you recognised and embraced it fully.”
Ania and Rustam (pronounced “Roostum”) emigrated to Canada in 2005 from the Kyrgyz Republic—“a small country in Central Asia,” they explain. She was already a practising dentist in her own right. A periodontist they recommended told me Rustam was the finest specialist in his country. For their credentials to be recognised in Canada, they both had to retrain in Vancouver, BC, and London, Ontario. The process of acceptance and assimilation took twenty years. They persisted, accepting the pains and doubts of the present for a future they could shape into their dream.
I reflected on an incident that occurred the previous week. Thirty years ago, a callow youth was introduced to me in my role as a public accountant. He had recently qualified in his profession and was just beginning his career. Three decades later, Gary had risen to become second in command to the owner.
He called me. “My boss wants to sell me his business. I don’t have the millions he’s asking for. Do you know anyone who could step in to purchase the business with me? I only have $100,000 to contribute.”
I found Gary a perfect partner. Al had the money. He was in the same industry and in his forties. He offered Gary shares at the same cost as himself—for as much as Gary wanted.
The payback period was three years, based on past performance—a return of 33.33% per annum. The owner had recently won the lottery, so there was a chance we could stretch the full purchase price over five years, with future payments coming from the business itself.
In 45 years, I hadn’t come across a sweeter deal.
“How do I know Al won’t fire me?”
“I’ve known him for years and closed a number of deals with him. I’m confident you’ll work well together. In addition to your shares in the company, you can draft a five-year contract to protect your job. If you take this deal, your annual income should double.”
No matter what I said, it made no difference. Gary would not participate, meet Al, or take a further step . He continually saw only what he might lose, rather than what he could gain—despite all my assurances.
Opportunity may knock, but you have to believe in it before you can see it.
