Nothing Wrong With Trying

Earlier this week I was thinking about a conversation I overheard a while back.  The topic of this conversation was about trying.  An olympic weightlifting coach quoted Yoda when stating; "Do or do not, there is no try."  He was coaching an athlete to pick up the heavy weight that she was hestitant to snatch because it was...heavy.  His argument was that there is no such thing as trying...you just put it in your mind and do it...simple.  I respectfully disagree with his thinking.  First, let's define the word Try shall we...

According to http://www.merriam-webster.com/  the definition of the word Try is;
                 - to examine or investigate judicially
                 - to conduct a trial
                 - to put to test or trial
                 - to make an attempt at
                 - to attempt trying something for the 1st time
synonyms; strain, stretch, tax, test

Here's my stance.

You must try...excuse me...I mean attempt the action to figure out if you can!  If you can...then you did, and you're done and you didn't have to try.  But what if you can't?  What if you took Yoda's wonderful advice but did not?  What then?  What then YODA???  Do you shrug and say "oh well, I guess I'll find something else to do..."  No!  Not if your super ambitious, competitive, or goal oriented.  If you're a determined woman like myself, you will do exactly what you set your sights on.  If not now...later down the road (after many, many tries).  Thomas Edison stated it best, "I failed my way to success."  So basically he tried A LOT (over 10,000 times) before he succeeded.  What if he heeded Yoda's advice...would we have reaped the benefit of incandescent lights?  Who knows.

To try is healthy, it is human.  When you set your sights on a particular task, at 1st it appears impossible.  But when you set a goal and make small "attempts" to "do it" before long the impossible is now possible.  Barriers are broken.  Personal limitations are overcome.  This is where 2 examples can be used to defend my argument.  Marathon running and deadlifting over 300 pounds.  You must make attempts or "tries" at both in order to successfully achieve.  If you've never done either of these feats it almost seems comical to think of accomplishing them, but you could if you would just give it a try. 

If you want to run a marathon, (I don't know why anyone would want to run that far, but maybe that's just me) you 1st have to test how far you can run.  After you do a trial run you set a plan into action making small attempts towards your goal of completing the marathon.  Same goes for a deadlift.  You must 1st determine the maximum amount of weight that you can pick up, and from there you take part in a series of tests, trials, attempts, and tries.  Yes, I said the word try!  After trying, correcting, and trying again (possibly hundreds of times) you can reach your goal of 300 pounds or more.  Ever heard of the saying; "if at 1st you don't succeed try, try again." or as the late great Aayliah sang, "dust yourself off and try again."  You see...success is only reached by trying.  If you don't try you can't win.  And I'm all about the W!  Winning that is. 

This is where I quote Henry Ford by stating, "whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right."  Do you get it yet?  It's not about trying versus doing...it's about believing.  It's about having a positive mental attitude.  It's about having child-like faith that nothing is impossible if you BELIEVE.  But you have to try, because if you don't try...you never will.  Do you believe in yourself?  You should.  All you have to do is try...and you will.