Was Yoda right all along?

Yoda, the enigmatic teacher in the Star Wars movies, once said, "There is no try, only do."

Does that mean the only two options that we have in life are success or failure?

I talked with a principal this week and she said, "I feel like a failure."

I listened as she told me all the things that she had done in a particular situation. She did all the right things. Unfortunately, the situation did not improve.

Does that mean she was a failure?

Or is there another option?

Is there a "it just did not work out but you did all the right things" option?

I think there is. There are times when things go wrong. There are times when things don't improve. But, in retrospect, I don't think I would have done anything differently.

Maybe I am making excuses. Maybe it is just the end-of-the-school-year blues that are dragging me down. But I really believe that, at times, I can do the right thing and it just won't work out.

But how can that be? How can we do all the right things and still not have it work out?

When that happens I have a responsibility to continue to examine, think, reflect, and try and figure it out.

But it doesn't mean that I have failed. Right?

Or is Yoda right?