The Courage To Try

"Try and try until you succeed" may sound an overused cliche among many but not for me. "Never be afraid to try" has become one of my life's guiding principles.

As a young student, I remembered being forced by my teachers to join school competition of all kinds. Name it - I've joined it. From quiz bowls, to oratorical contests and other gab competitions, essay contest and school paper writing tilt , poster making contest to cooking contests- except a school beauty contest, of course. hehehe. The most memorable one was a inter-school Nutrition Quiz Bee where I bagged the top prize. It was memorable because it was the first time I've joined a competition and I won. That experience compeled me to join more school contests even if I know i had slim chance of winning. After years of trying and trying, here's some thoughts i wish to impart:

1. WHEN YOU TRY, YOU'LL DISCOVER MORE OF YOURSELF. Believe me, you'll unearth your potentials and discover your strengths when you give yourself a try. You'll never know you can climb a mountain unless you take a courageous start. I've discovered I can actually write when I tried to post some blogs. I am surprised when friends told me I had a gift in writing and had the potential of becoming a writer someday. After hearing that positive comments, I decided to pursue my dream of becoming an inspirational writer.

You'll also discover your weakness and learn to set your limits or boundaries. After joining several oratorical contest and not excelling at all, I've learned that I cannot be a good public speaker. I trembled in front of a crowd. That public speaking is not my cup of tea.

2. TRYING HELPS YOU BUILD THAT COMPETITIVE SPIRIT. My friends often question me where on earth did I get that drive to compete. Little did they know that I got that competitive spirit not from the lessons taught in the four corners of the classroom but from the competitions I joined through the years. It's a compeling drive accumulated not just an overnight.

3. IT CAN HELP YOU BECOME A POSITIVE-MINDED PERSON. My optimism as a person was brought upon by my several experiences of losing and failing. In my several years of existence, I can proudly say I failed several times. I remembered crying before God when I did not top the NSAT test in my batch when I was in high school. After all, my teachers expected me to be the topnotcher. I failed in my goal of graduating college with honors when I got a below 2.5 grade in Physics. But that doesn'st stop me from finishing college with flying colors. I invested on the subjects I performed well and truly I excelled. My being not good in Physics does not mean I am a failure as a person. I had other assets or skills devoid of those good in numerical skills. We all have different forte.

I BELIEVE LIFE IS ALL ABOUT TRYING.

I believe it is a try when we first send our application letter to our prospective employers. I call it a try when we send a love letter to a crush with a heart hoping for a positive response. And it's obviously giving marriage a try when we said that "I do's" during a matrimonial ceremony. When a father tried his luck by going abroad, he is giving himself a try to gain greener pasture in a foreign land. Businessmen take risk when they try a new business venture.

Whatever state of life we are into, wether we like it or not, everyday we are all trap with life-changing decisions to make. And everytime we make decisions, we are giving ourselves a try.

Why?

Because we aren't certain of the consequences of our decisions and so we try.

Winding up,legendary basketball star Michael Jordan beautifully states, "We should not be afraid to try. I can accept failing but I can't accept not trying."