As
a response to the obstacles that seem to preclude one from reaching their goal,
“Do it anyway” sounds like callous throw-away line. I get that. It’s why I
stopped saying it to people, particularly those I really care about. It rarely
helped. Mostly, the phrase just frustrated friends and family who were just trying
to express their (sometimes legitimate) reasons for being reluctant to pursue
their dreams.
Of
course, the frustrations of others alone probably wouldn’t have stopped me from
utilizing that powerful phrase. No, I needed a little extra (rather silly)
push. The day I decided to stop saying “Do it anyway” was also the first time I
made the choice not to finish a half-completed novel. And yes, the two
occurrences were connected. You see, this novel was the first novel to ever irk
me to the point of quitting. Why? Because the story dismissed legitimate
concerns with a single phrase.
The
guilty chapter of this novel spent valuable time delivering an explicit list of
reasons for why it was impossible for the main character to complete a task. Immediately
after giving these reasons, the book concluded that the character completed the
task anyway. It did this with a slightly altered version of – you
guessed it – the very phrase I had been spouting up to that point.
“Unreliable narration!” I said to myself. Of
course, that was only my self-serving justification. In truth, I was angry
because I thought the author was simply ignoring all the earlier evidence of
impossibility. Hadn’t he just disregarded everything mentioned before in a single
breath?
It
took a bit of self-reflection to understand that this was something like the
feeling people around me were probably experiencing. After giving a detailed
catalogue of reasons they can’t do or pursue what they want, the last thing
someone wants to hear is, “Do it anyway”. So, I stopped.
Here’s
the hook: I think I might have been wrong to disregard it. Yes, the phrase
sounds uncaring and rather dim, as though one had completely missed the menagerie
of colorful explanations that came before. Despite that, the phrase resonates
with me; and I certainly never wanted to stop saying it to myself when mind my
calculated that an obstacle was impassable. I sensed a kind of latent wisdom in
that utterance.
There’s
some depth to this phrase that I think a lot of people miss. “Do it anyway” is
an appeal to pursue the unforeseen variables. While the obstacles that block
the path to one’s desire are quite noticeable, solutions usually may remain
hidden, even if one knows they exist.
I’ve
recently taken up a new career, and one of the most valuable lessons I have
learned here is that many solutions will not appear through idle
consideration alone. Often-times, the ways over the seemingly insurmountable
obstacle are only noticed when trying to surmount. The “how” is realized in the
act, not before.
“Do
it anyway”, is just a more direct version of “figure it out on the way”. It’s a
valuable phrase because we live in a world where so many solutions may only
be detected on the way, and direct language can shake us out of the dour paralysis
that obstacles impose. So, like the decision I made (some months later) to give
that oh-so pesky novel another chance (I ended up enjoying it), I’m considering
incorporating that contentious phrase back into my life. I’m considering it.
