There is one little green fella that I absolutely love. Well. Besides Kermit. Oh… I guess there’s ET too. He was sort of green. Crap. What about Shrek? Definitely green. Not so little.
Anyway….. no, I am talking about Yoda. I love that little green fella. He was so wise, so full of backward… yet astounding… aphorisms. Very smart, he was.
But he got it slightly wrong on one occasion. I’ve talked about this before, I know. His most famous quote of all.
“Do or do not. There is no try.”
Okay, I get the premise. I do. But it isn’t quite right. An example.
“I am going to run as hard as I can… and jump right over that 10 foot high brick wall in front of me. I WILL DO IT. There is no try. “
So. I run full force. As hard as my body will let me. And when I get to the wall, I leap, with all my might… as high as I can. Being the white, middle aged woman that I am…. I get about 11 inches off the ground and do a bad-wicked face plant. Right into that wall.
By Yoda’s estimation. … … I did NOT. By my assessment…. I sure as hell tried. And trying, and failing….. left a mark. In fact… it hurt like all get out.
The next time, though… I do things differently. I work out a little harder before hand. I try a different technique. I use a vault. Something. Anything. And maybe the next ten times, I don’t make it over that wall.
It hurts a little less each time.
But one glad day…. I take that leap. And I get over that wall.
And what about that big gash over my right eye, and the broken nose… which occurred during that first and tragic attempt? I remembered that information. I did not want to rinse and repeat. So I learned.
And there you have it. The human spirit.
I ‘ve been thinking a lot about the human spirit. There are some people, in some circumstances, who show incredible resilience… ambition… tenacity…. belief. They are in times of violence, or illness, or injustice, or grief. But they try. Each day. They go on. They continue.
My heart sings for them right now. I have tears in my eyes thinking about their will. They awaken my mind. They inspire.
But this encompasses the entire scale of human being-ness. From taking care of a sick friend, to making a video that brings laughter to many. From volunteering for a worthy cause, to listening intently when someone has a troubled story to tell. We try. We continue. We learn.
We grow. And we try. And in that, we love one another. To do all of that… we must love ourselves.
Yoda also said…. “Luke. Pass the Wookie Cookies.”
But that really has nothing to do with any of this. Except for I was back to thinking about Kermit… and then the Cookie Monster… and of course… Yoda and his affinity for Wookie Cookies. And you have to love all of that. There is no try. You must.
Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit. — e. e. cummings
We are all different. There is no such thing as a standard or run-of-the-mill human being, but we share the same human spirit. — Stephen Hawking
Both now and for always, I intend to hold fast to my belief in the hidden strength of the human spirit. — Andrei Sakharov