“Do or do not, there is no try.” – Yoda
This phrase has always resonated with me. As I have gotten older I have learned what it actually means.
Do or do not. Choose. Make a choice. Decide. Make a decision.
There is no try. A lot of people, myself included, are really good at preparing. Getting everything into place, making all the necessary arrangements – but then, along the way, what I set out to do has not gotten done.
– Or –
I half-ass the attempt to do the thing. It gets done half-way, but I don’t give it my 100%. I try to do it, but then don’t give it my all. Rather than doing, I am trying – and then becoming frustrated by the end result…or lack thereof.
That is the meaning of Yoda’s statement. “Do or do not, there is no try.” Decide to do the thing. Choose to do the thing. Do not try to do the thing – do the thing.
Nike used “Just Do It” as their slogan for a very long time. This, too, ties into this concept. Don’t try…do it.
Do or do not
But how can you do the thing if you do not try to do the thing? It is my belief that this comes down to intent. The intent behind try is often less focused, and more indecisive. I’m going to do this is a much more solid and intentional statement than I’m just going to try. The former implies confidence, the latter does not.
And that, I believe, is the point. When Yoda makes his statement, it is in response to Luke’s decidedly resigned, “Ok, I’ll try.” Luke does not believe it can be done. So when he cannot do it, and Yoda lifts the X-wing out of the swamp, when Luke earnestly says, “I don’t believe it.” Yoda’s poignant response is, “That is why you fail.”
Slight tangent, but this lesson never fully sinks in for Luke. This is why Yoda’s Force ghost in The Last Jedi reminds him, “The greatest teacher, failure is.” When you do, when it fails – and it is entirely possible that it will – what you learn from that failure may be of the greatest value.
Before I met my wife, I had a string of failed relationships along the way. The failures of those relationships taught me many things…even when I had to relearn the lessons more than once.
But when I have chosen to DO a thing, rather than just try, the results have been much more stupendous.
There is no try
Trying implies a sense of disbelief in the process. The lack of confidence in a try impacts the outcome, because try is also attached to a feeling.
Doing is not just action, it includes feeling. There is a sense of achievement and accomplishment attached to doing. Trying, on the other hand, is also an action, but a much more passive action. There is also feeling in trying, but it’s more of a sense of “whatever,” unlike the sense of accomplishment in doing.
This is why there is no try. To try is not as powerful or capable as doing. Doing is empowering, and while trying is not disempowering, it lacks in power, intent, and direction.
I am working harder to do. I know that I don’t always achieve what I set out to, but I am still making more effort to do rather than try. There are any number of things I wish to make of my life, and I am doing some new things currently to get there. Not trying, doing. That is what I am striving for.
Thank you for reading these words, and taking part in my ongoing journey. Thank you for joining me.
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This is the seventeenth entry of my personal blog. Please take a moment to check out the collection of my published writing, which can be found here.
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