On doing

Or, how to keep going on in life

Lately, I have been thinking of a line first uttered some forty years ago:

“Do or do not. There is no try.” — Master Yoda

To be honest, those words have stayed with me throughout my life.

And, if I’m being truthful, I have often failed in the doing—and settled instead for the trying.

There is, after all, a great difference between doing something…and merely trying anything.

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The Comfort of Trying

Each of us, at times, tries.

We try to make a change in our lives.

We try to push ourselves in a new direction.

We try to show up more fully.

And trying…well, trying feels nice.

We are making an effort, after all.

But trying is a bit like trying on clothes at the mall.

It might look good.

It might even feel good.

But we don’t actually have to commit.

We don’t have to buy the shirt, the dress, the shoes.

We can always put it back on the rack.

Doing something—sticking with it, seeing it through—

Well, that’s entirely different.

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What Doing Looks Like

I was reminded of this difference by my partner’s daughter last week.

This past year, she decided to do something new: running.

Now, she’s a great kid (and, admittedly, may have me wrapped around her finger), but what stood out wasn’t just the decision—it was the follow-through.

Over the past several months, she has given herself fully to the sport.

In eighth grade.

At an age when many of her peers have already been training and competing for years in a variety of other efforts.

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The Quiet Work

And with a great deal of dedication and effort, she made the team.

Not only that—she placed several times across a range of distances, from the 400 to the 800, all the way up to the mile.

At her final meet of the season, she shaved nearly twenty seconds off her personal best mile time, finishing just six seconds behind third place.

Not a bad showing at all.

And over a box of Crumbl cookies (again, wrapped around her finger), she told her mother and me:

“I switched up my schedule for next year. I want to make varsity.
I’m doing cross country and track.”

Now, a teenager adjusting a school schedule might seem inconsequential.

But it isn’t.

It meant she saw the potential in what she was doing.

It means she understands next year will require early mornings.

It means showing up and lacing her shoes at an hour when friends of hers are still hitting snooze.

It means doing something that matters to her.

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Showing Up

Mark Manson writes: “Purpose is something you practice, not some sort of buried treasure you stumble across. It doesn’t arrive in some burst of clarity—it accumulates through small, meaningful actions. Through trial, error, and showing up.”

So, how many of us are truly showing up?

How many of us are doing something—whether for the first time or the fifteenth?

How many of us are putting one committed foot in front of the other in the quiet effort to build a meaningful life?

If we want to feel grounded—secure, even content—in the direction of our lives (which often looks very different from what society calls “success”), then we have to do something about it.

There’s a line often attributed to Abraham Lincoln: “Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.”

He likely never said it.

But it still fits.

Because it points to something true:

Focus matters.

Direction matters.

Purpose requires movement.

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A Small Invitation

So, as we move into this week of Easter—

of brisket, brunch, and bunnies—

take a moment to consider what you need to do.

What your focus might be this spring.

And don’t just try it on.

Go and do it.

As Marcus Aurelius reminds us:
“Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.”