One thing that I really really do not like at all is those posters that are nicely framed in a stainless steel square in all offices. You might see them when you go in for an interview or in the front office at a high school. These are the posters with a stunning panoramic view of the some awe-inspiring natural landscape. Near the bottom about 4 inches above that stainless steel frame is a confidence inducing word with a possible explanation or a famous quote by someone who historically possessed the described virtue. I am not a fan of these things one bit, it would not surprise me if the same man who came up with these “hangable” pep talks was somehow related to a high ranking propaganda official in post under Lenin. They just give off that same vibe, the hollow and devoid of roots attempt to urge the working man to new heights of productivity. It’s not someone you respect that is telling you to work harder it’s a laminated dime a dozen picture of the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon is respectable but hardly in the same ways. With this said I do find myself walking the same line when it comes to pep talks. I am in writing this trying to slice the pep talk in a different direction, I really just want to explore in my head the power of trying.
Yoda has been quoted and I feel slightly misinterpreted quite often whilst training the young skywalker to use the force. The X-wing is stuck in the mucky ponds of the dagoba system’s mired surface. When luke says I’ll try in response to the newly presented challenge, then Yoda throws down the big one, “No, do or do not, there is no try”. Here in lies the misinterpretation, luke tries and fails and then makes excuses and receives a guilt trip that only one strong in the force can provide, “that is why you fail”. Now anyone who says I’ll give it a try will receive this quoted line probably from one of the friends who owns three lightsabers and has a lot more free cash because he doesn’t get to take many girls out. Yoda I feel was condemning not the act of trying but the fact that there was no confidence attached to the try. There is a large difference in saying you’ll try and giving it your all just before you fall flat on your face and, saying you’ll try only because you are not confident that you’ll succeed. The difference between the two is the first is a statement of an attempt regardless of the outcome; the second is a statement of an attempt with an excuse if it fails. The beautiful nearly atoning power of all out attempt without care of failure vilifies the pathetic excusing statement that people use when they fear failure so they don’t give a definite statement.
With this said I owe everything to trying. I don’t think there has ever been one time in my life where I performed successfully on the first attempt. Failure, though it will never be a choice state of being is something so beautiful when it is seen in its true teaching form. It only requires the drive to get your broken face back above your shoulders and going at it again, and then failure becomes your teacher. To finish this off I would propose two quotes from both parental units in my life to be made into one of those inspirational socialist posters. The one from my mother will feature a picture of Chicago just after the fire, and it will read “rock bottom is a college education”. Father’s will feature Hiroshima just after big boy dropped in and just four inches above the frame it will read, “school of hardknocks”. To which I will add my own, “Try/fail = Try/succeed”.
No comments:
Post a Comment