What Attempt?

The other day I was reading a meme about trying is better than not making the attempt.  That even if you don’t meet the gold standard of what you are doing, at least you are trying.   I used that statement with my manager at work the other day.  A co-worker, I don’t know who, did an “interesting job” at putting some items away on the shelf.   My response was this person “made an attempt, albeit not very successfully”.   She laughed!   And said “that’s a good way to look at it.”   It has left me pondering about what attempts I should keep making, even if I don’t feel very successful. 

My health app keeps saying “make one change each day” even if you don’t hold to that change, next day, make one change for the better.  Make one better decision for your health.   I like that encouragement to keep attempting, it helps me build for a healthier future.   Some days I choose to make the time to walk to work, another day it’s simply to NOT eat a supplied donut, and another to simply not have a snack before I go to bed. Small changes, but good ones for the day. 

What Attempt?

It is said
if you can’t do it right
don’t do it at all.

but I’d like to offer
a challenge to that way
of thinking.

The standard is,
brush your teeth for two minutes
to do it right, but tell me,
is it not better to brush for a minute,
or even a minute and a half
than not at all?

Is it not better
to place an item in the room
that it belongs in, even if
you don’t actually put it
back in it’s place?
At least it is still
accessible?

Is it not better to give a
dog a home, even if you don’t train
it thoroughly, but at least the
dog is safe, cared for, and not a danger?
Than to leave a dog in a shelter
where around the corner, death waits?

Is it not better to
fitfully read the bible
then to never touch it’s pages
because you don’t intend to read it through?
Or to attend a church, even though,
you might never join it?

The question I must needs ask
what attempt should you make
even if you
can’t do whatever it is perfectly?
Is that attempt better than
doing nothing at all?

Is making the attempt better than
allowing perfection to stop you?
Can the expression try try again be
exchange for
attempt it, even if you don’t truly
succeed in it? At least
you’ve made the attempt and
learned something in the process.
Perhaps your next attempt
will be more successful?

Building upon attempts
is part of how we learn
and deepens our understanding
of what it means
to be successful in what
we are setting our minds to
Don’t you find?

What attempt
will you make today?

What God has to say

God tells us to run the race before us.  I don’t think he means that we’re to run at a gallop, but more that we’re to see our path, and keep on it.   I know from talking to running friends that they don’t always maintain a steady rhythm as they run, sometimes their pace varies for whatever reason. 

Hebrews 12:1-2

Matthew 7:7