Daejoo: “Saying you’ve done all you can means that you did your best.”
The Secret Life of my Secretary
Veronica Park: “No way! That’s just a prettier way of saying that you no longer want to do something. Saying that you did everything for someone… it’s not ‘all that you could’ but doing as much as you can.”
First of all, the name Veronica Park; if it’s sounds odd it’s because you’re not saying it in her voice which you can listen to here. Believe it or not, by the last episode, she will be one of your favorite characters (also, her ringtone is let it go from frozen, and I laugh every time her phone rings). Moving on to the actual quote… The funniest part is that he was talking about his best friend, saying he did all he could for his friend. However, she thinks he’s referring to their relationship because something always comes up every time, they almost kiss, and he has to go. Then they never actually kiss, and it makes her mad. So, she’s giving him this great advice to tell him he should be more focused on their relationship, spend more time with her, and spend less time trying to help his friend. However, the minute she finishes speaking, he is so inspired by her words (totally missing what she’s trying to say) that he runs off. Again…. to help his friend. She is mad cause this was the third or fourth time they have almost kissed. To be fair, his friend did need his help, but I still felt bad for her since it’s happened so many times, but this post isn’t about dating advice…
Apart from this being a hilarious scene (I love their crazy relationship). It also got me thinking. Sometimes in life, I say, “well, I’ve done all that I can,” and whatever happens has nothing to do with me because I did the best I could. I feel like maybe I did the best I could (at that time), but then perhaps I just gave up. It can be frustrating working so hard with no results. I guess technically, doing all that you could (at the time) would be your best (at the time), but then what? I hate to do pointless things, so whenever something seems too hard, meaningless, or impossible, I tend to give up. Because I did try; I did all that I could, and that’s what we should do, right?
I always strive to do my best, but there shouldn’t be an endpoint if it really is my best. ‘All that you could’ ends with “could,” and as we work toward something, our best will keep improving. Riding horses is one example. When I first started out, I didn’t know anything. I slowly learned more and more and got better and better. But I would never get better if I only did everything I could on that first day. Genuinely trying isn’t doing all I could and then giving up if it doesn’t work out. Trying my best is doing everything that I can so that my best keeps getting better so that one day all of my hard work will be worth it. I’m no longer a young, energetic teenager. My riding is not nearly as good as it once was (also, it’s expensive, and I can’t do it consistently). However, my doctors say horseback riding is good physical therapy to stop muscular dystrophy from worsening. So, I will continue to ride whenever I can. When I do ride, I will continue to try my best until my best is better than it was before.
I want to have that same attitude towards life. It’s really hard sometimes, though. Even when I’m not depressed, I’m also not the most positive person you’ll ever meet. With life, just like with muscular dystrophy, I know other people have it way worse. I probably shouldn’t complain, but I’m so close to normal. It taunts me when I can’t do something that everybody else can. It’s hard to want to keep doing your best when nothing’s happening. I have all these great dreams for my life about how I want to inspire people and make the world a better place. Sometimes I wonder if this blog is even worth keeping up with. Not that I don’t love my 6 readers, but It’s hard to do my best when it feels like what I’m working towards is pointless and unrealistic. Not just with dreams but in life as well. Do I really have to try when there are no results? I feel like I tried so hard with my blog, and now I’m trying so hard to get my life together, but nothing is happening, and I really don’t want to die alone with 20 cats as much as I might joke about it.
I’m not going to stop writing, don’t worry, Lydia. I just wonder if maybe I shouldn’t care so much about stuff. Growing up, I always had this fantasy every year for my birthday. My parents would invite all my friends for a big surprise party where I found out my entire family had chipped in to buy me a horse, so my life didn’t suck after all. You probably guessed that it never happened. No surprise party, no horse, and not even friends for the past 3 birthdays. The saddest part is that even though I’m 24 years old, I still have that fantasy. When Christmas or my birthday rolls around, I wonder if this will be the year, I finally have a horse of my own, even though I know it will never happen.
That’s how I feel about life and my dreams, and I want to learn how to not care. I’m so good at not caring about stuff, but for some reason, every week, I wonder if this will be when my life finally starts to come together or if my blog changes someone’s life. I don’t want to not try because then it will definitely never happen. Still, I’m sick of trying because nothing is happening. How do we do our best when the thing we are fighting for seems hopeless?
I just finished watching ‘The Smile has Left Your Eyes.’ It’s a k-drama, and if you plan on watching it stop reading cause I’m about to ruin it for you. Anyway, it’s a super sad show, but I didn’t cry even once, which was terrific because every other show like that makes me cry my eyes out. Even when both characters died in the end with 3 minutes left(so you knew they weren’t coming back), I didn’t shed a tear. I think it’s because, in hindsight, I saw it coming from a mile away. Something in the back of my mind told me it wouldn’t end well, and I was prepared. I mean, it was a good ending, all things considered. I thought for a second that he would survive, and they would all live happily ever after. Deep down, I already knew what I was getting myself into. It seemed so promising, and then they both died, and I was so shocked, but I suddenly realized that I saw that coming from a mile away.
I think that’s how we have to tackle doing our best by simply doing our best (if that makes any sense). Deep down, I know it will all work out even though it seems hopeless now (which is the opposite of that plot). Maybe 30 years from now (eww, I’ll be so old), my blog will have the same 6 followers (I’ll repeat it, y’all are the best), and maybe it won’t mean anything to anyone, but it will mean something to me. I started this blog to convince myself and others that it would be okay. Even if I can’t convince anyone else, I think I’m finally at least starting to convince myself. Maybe 5 years from now, I still won’t be living in my own house with my future husband (who may or may not vaguely resemble the super awesome ninja dude from ‘The Lost Tomb.’ Probably not, but a girl can dream. I’m sure I’ll have my license and a car by then, which would be nice too. Maybe I’ll never have my own horse or 1k followers on my blog’s Facebook page, but it’s still a nice thought, and just like with my future husband, there is nothing wrong with wishful thinking.
Also, I finally did finish the last episode of ‘The Lost Tomb 2’. I’m still not entirely sure what happened in those 40 episodes, but they better start giving us some answers in season three. I’m going to lose my mind, but I’ll talk more about that in another post because, believe me, I have PLENTY to say about it.
Anyway, until next time, try your best, don’t give up, and hang in there, and I’ll hang there too. Thank you so much for reading. It really does mean a lot that you’ve taken time out of your day to read all this. I’ll try to keep posting, but I’ve been sick, so I haven’t had a ton of extra energy, but I’ll try since that’s what this whole post is about.
Sincerely,
LIBD
