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My Point of View by Robert Hoffman

Feel free to fail, but try! We are all surrounded by many great people. Some of them know it because they’ve been told, others because they’ve been rewarded for their efforts. Some of the greatest people in our lives haven’t tapped into their greatness yet, but unfortunately some may never. We can help each other be our greatest. The first, often uncomfortable, step is to try.

We’ve all heard “What if I fail? Oh, but my darling, what if you fly?” It is a reminder to focus on the potential for success and growth, rather than dwelling on the possibility of failure. It encourages embracing opportunities and trusting in the possibility of achieving something extraordinary, even if it means facing challenges or setbacks.

However, we have the same opportunity to fail as we do succeed. Few things in life can be certain, success is not one of them. Even with the best of efforts, success is not certain.

My company sponsors many youth athletic programs. Not at all because I was a good athlete and want to see others succeed like I did, maybe even the opposite. I was really not a good athlete (I had the body of a figure skater until I was 20. I was hardly built for football, hockey or rugby!) I don’t know if coaches realize how great of an effect they had on us poor athletes as much as they did their often celebrated star athletes but I learned to fail, to follow my shot, to get back up, to walk it off. Come to think of it, maybe this is why I got into small business ownership and politics; everything I needed to learn about business and politics I learned by getting the hell kicked out of me in sports.

One of my baseball coaches noticed I was fast (but couldn’t hit a ball to save my life) and asked if I could beat the catcher’s throw to second base? I said I could, and he told me if I get walked to hustle to first base and then steal second right away after being walked. You want to see the stands full of parents laugh and cheer, find the horrible hitter’s strength and tell him to run with it. After tapping into my strength of being a fast baseball player, I joined the track team. (Of all things I became a high jumper even though I was only 5’9.”)

My nephew is now on a track team and high jumping. Spring’s sports have the sun shining on them now, and the fields are full of young athletes and the stands full of fans.

These are some of the greatest days even for some of the “worst” of athletes. I reflect on any of these stories because they highlight that you may be right next to greatness, either in yourself or someone else’s and failing may be the best thing for you to help you find out where you will succeed.

I love the Mark Twain story about a man’s search for the greatest general that culminates at the Pearly Gates, where he encounters St. Peter. St. Peter points him to a seemingly ordinary cobbler, who the man knew in life. St. Peter explains that this cobbler would have been the greatest general if he had chosen that path, highlighting the potential greatness within everyday people.

The story, referred to as “The Cobbler and the General,” showcases Twain’s satirical style. The man’s relentless pursuit of finding the greatest general, a figure he believed existed on a high pedestal, ultimately leads him to a humble cobbler. This unexpected twist emphasizes that true greatness can be found in unexpected places and that potential is often hidden within seemingly ordinary individuals. St. Peter’s response underscores this point, suggesting that the cobbler’s natural leadership qualities, if channeled, could have made him a legendary military figure.

“Mark Twain once told a story about a man who scoured the planet looking for the greatest general who ever lived. When the man was informed that the person he sought had already died and gone to heaven, he made a trip to the Pearly Gates to look for him. Saint Peter pointed at a regular-looking Joe. “That isn’t the greatest of all generals,” protested the man. “I knew that person when he lived on Earth, and he was only a cobbler.” “I know that,” said St. Peter, “but if he had been a general, he would have been the greatest of them all.”

What do these silly stories have to do with politics? I think absolutely everything. Try, fail, follow your shot, get back up, walk it off, but try. And help others in their journey.

If you start to find your greatness together, imagine what your team can do!

Robert Hoffman is chairman of the Freeborn County Republican Party.