#JustTryAgain - Jessie J

Vol 2 “Whatever path we chose to take, there will be highs and lows” - Jessie J

Michelle's corner: Yes yes yes!!! I promised to post volume 2 last week (Monday)👧. Apologies guys, I was enjoying the long weekend to the detriment of my school work and blog😀. Therefore, I had to sort out school throughout the week, to a reasonable extent. Thanks to everyone who read my previous post. I hope you liked it? And it was educational ✌. Now let’s get today’s write-up started. 

Hello guys, 

I will be discussing one of the messages in the “Whatever path we choose to take, there will be highs and lows” series; please read volume 1 here. For this write-up I will be discussing the second point - JUST TRY AGAIN.

“The harder you fall the harder you try”

I would like to play a game of “what if” today. I will be taking different realistic and fictional scenarios and highlight certain decisions that might change the result of each presumed “fall.” 

LET’S GO

A family friend who didn’t have a child five years into her marriage opted for In-vitro fertilization (IVF). She was consistently told nothing was medically wrong with both her and the husband, but nothing happened still. Her first five IVF procedures were not successful, on the 6th try she got pregnant and had an healthy baby girl (who is her only child till date). You should also bear in mind that this procedure is very expensive and she spent millions of Naira. My question is: what if she had stopped the procedure? Would she have been gotten pregnant regardless? 😕

I remember watching Laurie and F.E.B Idahosa’s interview on Linda Ikeji TV. Laurie gave details about her fertility struggles and this was really touching😟. The couple have three children now, but they had their share of fertility issues. They were told by doctors that there was a 99.99 per cent chance that they would not have a child. They however, decided on IVF. Laurie’s 5th time on the procedure was successful, but the baby boy died hours after birth😞. Months after the loss of their baby, she got pregnant naturally (without IVF) and gave birth to a healthy baby boy. Obviously, she was healing after the sad event of her first baby, but she only got pregnant when she stopped. 

Similarly, after a successful first IVF procedure, Celine Dion delivered her first child (Rene-Charles). She later had her twin boys after many failed IVFs, specifically five. Celine insisted that she was pretty determined to have another child(ren). In her words; “I was going to try until the doctor would say to me, ‘You cannot try anymore'”. What if she didn’t persist? Would she have had more children or not? These are questions we all can’t answer😔. 

Another scenario

A young lady at my auntie’s work place was often shamed for dating her bosses (even when it was not true.) and not being married😒. She never argued or tried to fight anyone about her personal issues. She consistently dated her ideal men and never lowered her standards (Which were quite reasonable: kind, employed or with prospect, etc.) for any reason. After several failed relationships, she is now happily married, 8 years and counting, with two kids. Her marriage is what I consider #relationshipgoals. What if she had lowered her standards? Being consistent at what she wanted gave her a happy ending, in my opinion😛. 

Scenario 3

A friend of mine once had the opportunity to go for medicine after her undergraduate degree, but declined. She thought she couldn't endure 4 more years of an undergraduate degree. She opted for a masters degree but now feels bad about her decision. I think she thought MSc was an easier choice. However, after enduring the grueling postgraduate degree, she realized that that the mental strength could have been better spent earning a medical degree. My question is: would it have been better if she had gone to medical school? (we don’t know that.) Or was she right to think medicine is harder and she couldn't have survived the process? 

Finally 

Recently, I was watching the latest episode of grey’s anatomy (you can read my previous post on the series here). Meredith Grey was going to give up her medical trial on producing mini livers in humans. The mini livers are meant to provide the functions of the main liver, if damaged. The trial was almost hampered when a blast from the past stole her methods. The woman also refused to give Meredith the polymer she requested for the trial procedure. As fate would have it, her resident (Dr Joe Wilson) convinced her to continue the trial and look for other polymers that will work in place of the lost one. During the animal trials, Meredith and Joe realized that the rat that developed the mini livers did not require a polymer to work. As you can tell, If Meredith had insisted on ending the trial because she felt defeated, this wouldn't have been known. 

What I think

Contrary to what people think, I consider trying again as subjective. Sometimes people try again because they are hopeful that they can take what comes from whatever they are doing. Some people believe that the second step to moving on or healing (I think the first step is denial.) is acceptance. You should understand that at some point, certain things are out of your capabilities. THIS IS NOT A WEAKNESS.

Personally, I think we all should try to know our limits (although it's not easy). However, often times we are stronger than we think, we just need someone to help us understand that. 

Are you persistent? Has it always worked for you? PLEASE share your views in the comment section. #JustTryAgain

Love, 

Michelle