Iwatchedthetwoofthem，bothayearold，onthefloor，surroundedbycandy．Hecrawledonhishandsandkneeswhileshesattherelookingatherbirthdaydress．Thecolorfulfishiepinata（彩罐）hadjustbeenbrokenandthecandylitte

　　I watched the two of them，both a year old，on the floor，surrounded by candy．He crawled on his hands and knees while she sat there looking at her birthday dress．The colorful fishie pinata （彩罐） had just been broken and the candy littered the ground．Both of their kids were too young to realize that they were sitting，and crawling around in a collection of wrapped sugar goodies．They were surrounded with edible（可食用的） goodies but had no clue!

　　Suddenly I saw the life metaphor（比喻）．If we are the"babies"and the candy is"opportunity，"often we don't recognize it because the opportunity comes wrapped as hard work．We may not give the wrapper the time of day，unless we realize that inside there's a piece of delicious candy．

　　Every tree starts as a seed．Every person who becomes well-known was once someone nobody"knew．"So what changed for these people？Did the world suddenly wake up and find they have the potential to succeed？Of course not．These people worked for long periods of time before they saw any payoff．

　　It can be disheartening when you're starting out．There's a huge learning curve for almost everything．Just when you feel like you're making rapid progress，you realize there's more to learn．Every new door opens to a brand new room，with another door at the end．

　　When I was in recovery from my eating disorder，there were many opportunities that I didn't recognize as candy．At first，I didn't see therapy（治疗；疗法） leading anywhere．It was only by going to therapy every week for a year that I was finally able to realize the opportunities．I had the opportunities to examine and adjust my thinking，and to challenge the negative mindsets I had about my life．

　　When I look back，I find that many of the opportunities that allowed positive growth didn't always appear easy or fun．They often appeared as something that looked like hard work．But when we focus，consistently show up，and put in hard work，it will result in candy．