Sunday, September 21, 2008

Words of Wisdom

There's a daily feature at my school - at the close of the morning announcements, we have "Counselor's Corner" where one of the counselors comes on with some sage advice.

Friday's offering was pretty good:

Yoda: "Do or do not. There is no try."

I'm not sure the kids got it - at least not the kids in my first period class. The counselor said it "begs the question regarding the elements of action."

So what do you think it means?

6 comments:

Eliza said...

I understand the Yoda quote, but I'm not sure I understand the quote from the counselor, unless he is misusing the phrase "begs the question," in which case maybe it makes a little more sense.

And in terms of what I think the Yoda quote means...this may not be completely applicable, but I immediately thought of the semantics involved in my past conversations with OBs. A big turnoff for me when I talked with various OBs was, "Sure, you can try for a VBAC" (emphasis on "try").

Granted, I know that I don't ultimately have control over how my baby comes out of me--if everyone involved does everything they can possibly and safely do to help along a VBAC, I could still have a C-section if that's the only physical way to do it. Still, I prefer "plan a VBAC" over "try for a VBAC." Same with the phrase "trial of labor" versus plain old "labor."

So, probably not exactly what you are thinking, but when it comes to a goal like the one I have currently, semantics matter. If I tell myself that I am "trying" something, there is still a slight mental block there--I am admitting that maybe I will fail. If I say I'm going to "do" it, then I have no choice but to "do" it--and if for whatever reason it doesn't work out, I'll grieve that later, rather than "prepare" myself for the possibility of failure now by thinking, "well, I'll just try."

grannybabs said...

Your take on it seems valid to me.

It is more than semantics - I think it's a mind set too.

bonny with a Y said...

i think eliza nailed it.

trying is an escape hatch. and in the situation of fighting the empire striking back trying wasn't an option. (sorry for the awkward sentence)

i love yoda

so who would like to research the urban myth that george lucas modeled him on pres. kimball?

maybe i'll assign that one to ara.

grannybabs said...

That is one I would be interested in verifying!!

Or at least finding out how it came to be even considered.

Alice said...

I agree with Eliza. Trying is a sure path to being content with failure. We need to keep our minds focused on success. I too would be interested in the President Kimball connection.

bonny with a Y said...

i did a little research -it's a total mormon myth. yoda was actually modeled after einstein - at least physically.