July 15, 2015, TGIW: Unhumping Hump Day…and Effort
By Darrell Gurney | Blog
“It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things.” –Theodore Roosevelt
Yuk!
Expressed that way, effort doesn’t sound too attractive…unless medicine without a spoonful of sugar turns you on.
Effort, as defined by Dictionary.com, is “exertion of physical or mental power; an earnest or strenuous attempt; something done by exertion or hard work; the amount of exertion expended for a specified purpose.”
Nothing wrong with effort. It’s required to bring anything about.
On the other hand, many of us fall into “efforting”, which carries another flavor.
If you look up “efforting”, you’ll find urban dictionary definitions of the word as coined by TV newscasters and editors as a euphemism for their failing to get the job done. “We’re efforting to get the hurricane footage to you.”
Or you’ll find an intellectual analysis of how society is turning certain nouns into verbs, and why “efforting” should not qualify.
Yet, what makes the case for “efforting” as a verb and distinct idea is our penchant for seemingly earnest attempts without results.
The difference between effort and efforting is that the latter includes an element of struggle, pain and even anticipation of less than stellar outcomes. The “woe is me” factor is high. It’s, in effect, having our whine without the cheese at the end of the tunnel.
Effort, on the other hand, mixed with a healthy amount of openness and availability for unexpected and unforseen forces coming to our aid…that’s a recipe for damn good luck.
Effort is a no whine zone.
Got effort?
“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” –Lucius Annaeus Seneca