One tries One's best…

I have been of the opinion that in each situation we're in, we always try our best.
We try our best to succeed, and to get to a goal.
Now, I'm a little less sure…

What may complicate things is, where we decide to give up on a goal, or try half-heartedly in getting to that goal. Basically, it would appear that we're not doing our best here.

Is it possible here that in giving up, we're actually achieving another more important goal, one of which is ‘giving ourselves a break'?

Also in choosing what is best for us, it is possible, that, we can make errors in judgement here, but that we would make no errors on purpose, we are still clearly doing our best…

I think it may come down to how learned we are, as well as paying attention to those lessons we learn along the way… If we did give up, or try half-heartedly, and fail, then if the goal was important enough we would learn to try harder.

Take note of the use of words there, ‘try harder'. If we were always doing our best would we be able to try any harder?
One answer is “Yes!”, and the reason for that response would be, that, we can manage our activities such that more time or energy can be spent on a particular activity, thus allowing us to work harder towards something.
If the answer was to be “No!”, I guess the argument would be that you consider your management of your activities as all joined together, and that, all individual goals in all activities are really part of the same situation. The time and energy management here would be the sum of all activities rather than working on each activity one by one.

How would you respond and make sense of the comment if I said “You can try harder!”?
What does it mean when you've failed, and someone tells you “Oh well, you tried your best!”?
What about where you compromise you chance at success to help out someone less fortunate?
I'd love to hear what anyone else has to say on the topic…

I think everyone needs to hear "you tried your best." When you don't get that and you are told " you can try harder." I think it feels like a failure and the more the negative is used the more negative your thinking is. Of course no one is perfect so in fact everyone could always try harder, but isn't it just a boost to your self confidence if you think you have tried the best you can and others tell you that also?

There is nothing worse than feeling you are'nt as important as other people, no one wants to feel inferior. Some people can try and try and try till it hurts to do their best and be as good as someone else at something. But in the end does it matter if we aren't as clever or sporty or whatever as someone else. I believe it is our differences and individual querks that make us who we are and that's all that matters.