You Were Trying Too Hard: Difference between revisions

It didn't. }}

* It does, however, work for Richard in ''[[Neverwhere]]'' when he loses his keys in the mud.

* This happens to Bilbo during the riddle-game in ''[[The Hobbit]]'': he can't figure out a riddle, he's really spooked, and he squeaks "Time!" meaning "Give me more time!" It's the right answer. Technically, also how Bilbo wins the riddle-game. Trying to think up a riddle, he off-handedly asks himself, "What's in my pocket?" Gollum takes it as a riddle.

* In ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' Gandalf uses several spells while attempting to open the door into Moria, whereas if he had not translated the Elvish inscription on the door (Speak, Friend, and enter) when he read it aloud the door would have opened, as the Elvish word for Friend (mellon) ''was'' the password.

* In ''Alan Mendelsohn, the Boy from Mars'' by [[Daniel Pinkwater]], Samuel Klugarsh sells an Omega Meter to Alan and Leonard, promising that the machine will play a tape recording of "Jingle Bells" instead of buzzing when their brains start to produce omega waves. The boys try various meditation tricks to no avail. Finally, Alan agrees with Leonard that Klugarsh played a trick on them, says, "I give up," and collapses in defeat. Moments later, the machine starts to play "Jingle Bells."

* This is how Saidar, the female half of the One Power, works in [[The Wheel of Time]]. The only way to control it is for the channeler to recognise how infinitely greater it is than her and surrender to it completely. Try to fight it and it will burn you out.

* This is a huge part of learning to fly in ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]''.

{{quote|"One problem is that you have to miss the ground accidentally. It's no good deliberately intending to miss the ground because you won't. You have to have your attention suddenly distracted by something else when you're halfway there, so that you are no longer thinking about falling, or about the ground, or about how much it's going to hurt if you fail to miss it. . . There are private clubs you can join which help you achieve the all-important moment of distraction. They hire people with surprising bodies or opinions to leap out from behind bushes and exhibit and/or explain them at the critical moment."}}

** This probably works because people getting on with and enjoying their lives are a lot more attractive than people desperately seeking someone else to make their lives worthwhile.

* This trope describes exactly how the Buddha's disciple Ananda supposedly reached enlightenment.

* Certain techniques in fencing, especially making an attack to the foot in epee, are less accurate the harder you think about what you are doing.

* Some alcoholics speak of total surrender as the necessary first step on the path to recovery.

* Much of Taoist philosophy revolves around this. Constantly struggling to get what you want leads to suffering and defeat, while simply "going with the flow" and doing what you're good at will reward you.

* Many inexperienced kids on the internet fall victim to this trope. They try too hard to make themselves seem respectable, by giving themselves unnecessarily cool names like DarkEvilLord97 or Xkiller74x, and acting like an [[Internet Tough Guy]], when it isn't cool at all. As they grow up they mature a bit they realize that you shouldn't ''try'' to be a "cool" person, whatever that means this week; you should just [[Be Yourself]]. It's true what they say, after all: being comfortable with who you are makes you cool!

** And whatever you do, do NOT try to be [[Darker and Edgier|edgy]]. You'll just come off as annoying.

 

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