You alone can decide when the turning point will come. It is a matter of choice whether we allow our diviner self to control us or whether we will be controlled by the brute within us. No man has to do anything he does not want to do. He is therefore the director of his life if he wills to be. What we are to do， is the result of our training. We are like putty， and can be completely controlled by our will power.
Habit is a matter of acquirement. You hear people say， “He comes by this or that naturally， a chip off the old block， ” meaning that he is only doing what his parents did. This is quite often the case， but there is no reason for it， for a person can break a habit just the moment he masters the “I will.” A man may have been a “good-for-nothing” all his life up to this very minute， but from this time on he begins to amount to something. Even old men have suddenly changed and accomplished wonders.
“I lost my opportunity，” says one. That may be true， but by sheer force of will， we can find a way to bring us another opportunity. There is no truth in the saying that opportunity knocks at our door but once in a lifetime. The fact is， opportunity never seeks us； we must seek it. What usually turns out to be one man’s opportunity was another man’s loss. In this day one man’s brain is matched against another’s. It is often the quickness of brain action that determines the result. One man thinks “I will do it，” but while he procrastinates the other goes ahead and does the work. They both have the same opportunity. The one will complain of his lost chance. But it should teach him a lesson， and it will， if he is seeking the path that leads to success.
Many persons read good books， but say they do not get much good out of them. They do not realize that all any book or any lesson course can do is to awaken them to their possibilities； to stimulate them to use their will power. You may teach a person from now until doom’s day， but that person will only know what he learns himself. “You can lead him to the fountain， but you can’t make him drink.”