Hopefully, the students also listened to my message. And that message was delivered with the help of a Jedi Master.
It is one of my favorite quotes, whether from a real person in history or a fictitious character in the movies. If you saw Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back, you heard it too.
Luke Skywalker has arrived at Dagobah for his training as a Jedi Knight. He meets this mysterious gremlin-like creature with a voice that sounds like Elmo on Sesame Street. His name is Yoda.
And Yoda has big plans for Luke. Unfortunately, Luke isn't completely buying what Yoda is selling just yet.
Yoda wants Luke to lift his X-Wing Fighter out of the muddy, murky bog it sank into upon that crazy landing. And Yoda wants Luke to do it without touching the spacecraft. Yoda wants Luke to harness the power of the force.
"I'll try," Luke says in a voice that indicates he has no plans of being successful.
And here comes the quote. Yoda says:
"Do, or do not. There is no try."
When I recited this to the students at G.W. Childs, I paused. There was a good 10 seconds of silence, which during a commencement speech in a hot auditorium with a bunch of antsy eighth graders, is a very long time to have silence.
Despite a little laughter and squirming in their seats, I think the students actually thought about that one.
about thinking positive about everything you do. It's about intending to succeed. Look where it got Luke!
By the way, the Worst Father in the World is of course Luke's father, Annakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. Why?
Well, didn't Darth try to kill him? I think that qualifies. Read more Parenting Perspective blogs by visiting the Parenting Channel on 6abc.com.