Try, Try Again

Here's what I'm thinking: Everyone knows the age old quote "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." I don't remember who said it but he was a pretty smart guy. I think of all the inspiring people from history who have applied this to their efforts and made awesome things happen. Thomas Edison tried over a thousand times before he got the lightbulb to work properly. Handell wrote several operas and things that nobody thought was very impressive until he came around with The Messiah, which is now considered to be one of the greatest musical works of all time. Abraham Lincoln ran for office many times until eventually he was elected President of the United States.

So what do all of these cool people have in common? I've noticed in my life that there have been some big things that I wanted to do, and even though I tried over and over again, I never succeeded. At least, not yet. However, I think I've figured out the method that helped all of those people in history who have accomplished their dreams. Its not the fact that they tried over and over until something happened. It's the fact that they tried DIFFERENT THINGS over and over until the end result was what they wanted. The definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over again, and expecting to get a different result. How many times in my life have I been frustrated because I kept on trying the same thing and nothing ever happened? Sometimes I think that we as humans assume that our solution is the one that will work as long as we try it enough times, or do it the same way only try even harder this time. I think that when we get over our fear of trying different things, we can really start to make things happen.

Here is an example from the Book of Mormon. Nephi and his brothers were commanded to go and obtain a scriptural record from a bad dude named Laban back in Jerusalem. The first time they tried, Nephi's older brother simply went and asked if he could have the record. Laban threatened to kill him. The second time they tried to buy the record by presenting all of their wealth to the bad guy and ask for an exchange. Laban ended up stealing all of their property and actually tried to kill all of them. The third time Nephi tried, he relied on God to show him the way, and he was successful in obtaining the record from Laban. So the moral of this story is that as long as you keep on trying, eventually you will get it right. Don't get stuck on doing the exact same thing. 1 plus 1 will always equal 2, no matter how many times you solve the equation. If you want the end result to be a 3 or a 4, you have to change things.

And that's all I've got for now.