The Importance of Trying

The Importance of Trying
Yoda from Star Wars said, “Do or do not, there is no try.” I couldn’t disagree more. There is a place for a word called, “Try” even if someone fails. Do not is failure to attempt, but try is to attempt with intention of success. When I was a youngster I was taught, “If at first you don’t succeed, try again.” Failure does not need to be a waste. Though there is a time to give up, this simple statement shames the wisdom of Yoda. There is something to be gained from trying, but failing, and that is the knowledge of experience.
Judaism seems to have this same idea too, the Yoda idea, such that if a good deed isn’t done perfectly, then it isn’t a good deed. In Judaism, there is no credit for a partially done good deed. This is a rather strange attitude for this religion to take given that its spiritualists emphasize putting everything in a positive light. For example, Rabbis are for not allowing just anyone to consider him or herself a Jew for fear that a good deed might not be performed perfectly for lack of knowledge of how to do it properly. This is downright silly. The world would be a better place if the 613 Laws of Moses were taken to heart by all peoples, and one way to cause this to happen is to support these Laws as healthy actions for anyone to do, and even if failure occurs, “Try again,” and maybe humanity will all get it right someday.
In science, some of the greatest discoveries happened because someone tried and failed. These mistakes are often the building block for great ideas in science. In fact, this is how plastic was invented. Any good scientist looks at a mistake and says, “What can be redeemed from this?” Maybe the error occurred in such a way that it gives an idea. With this attitude, placing a strong attitude of motivation for recovering anything of value from a mistake sometimes it opens mental gateways that would have never been opened had the mistake not been made. These mental gateways only open sometimes when the monotony of a repetitive procedure is broken by mistake. Suddenly, what seemed like a worthless error can be arranged into a procedure, if the positive is considered primarily rather than the negative. The negative is to consider what was lost, and this is somewhat important, but to consider the positive is to ask, “How can this be beneficial?” By thinking, questioning in one’s mind how a mistake can be beneficial the doorway to improvement is often opened. This doorway, like the others is not opened by a simple, “Do not,” but it is opened by the word, “Try,” which is more of a mix.