Are you familiar with sevens rugby? Let me give you a brief rundown. A game is about fifteen minutes of two seven person teams in constant motion working to get the ball across the goal line. No pads, no helmets, just the players and the ball. The clock stops for almost nothing. It's fast and intense and a score is called a try.
After recently spending a great day with my daughter at a tournament yelling, "Good try!" or, " Nice try," or, "Awesome try!" not surprisingly, it got me to thinking about the importance of trying.
Trying doesn't always get a lot of love. We're a culture of getting things done, not trying to get things done. And there's a lot to be said for that. Who doesn't appreciate the wisdom of a certain Jedi Master who clearly taught us all, "Try not! Do or do not. There is no try." That kind of commitment and clarity can move mountains and inspire generations. Where would the astronauts of Apollo 13 have been if the crew in Houston hadn't had their "Failure is not an option" attitude? Sometimes we have to get tough with ourselves and remove from our thoughts the very idea of not completing the task at hand.
But there's another wise saying that says, "You never know what you can do until you try."
Often giving ourselves permission to try, without the expectation of either success or failure, can be magical. It can give us courage to attempt things we otherwise wouldn't. It can give us confidence and momentum as we begin to see small successes. It can give us wisdom and help us see when the best choice is to quit or give something up. (Just ask Ariana Huffington about healthy quitting.)
As for trying, I know of a teenage girl who decided she would try a new sport, basically on a whim, because she thought it looked fun - no do-or-die, no failure-is-not-an-option, just hmm-I-think-I'll-give-this-go. In a short time, she ended up on the Olympic team. In that sport. True story.
So, go ahead. Try something.
Sorry Yoda, but in rugby, and sometimes in life, the best goal can be to try.