Do. Or do not. There is no try. Yoda
One of the most anticipated events in our lives are victories. We want them in different scenarios and at different scale.
Starting from our childhood we want to be a winner at table games, at games with peers outside, at games on electronic devices and in our first sport competitions. Some kids strive for wins more, some less, but nobody wants to be a looser. How can we support our kids’ spirits – to help them to aim for victory, not to give up?
Growing up, we start meeting more arduous circumstances – school contests, competitions for school admission or for work offers, lovers captivations, new projects initiations, sport tournaments getting bigger and more challenging – we want to conquer the world. How to find strength and power to accomplish this all, not doubt yourself and believe in your success?
Getting mature, we are still not lacking problems which we have to fix – we want to reach our apex or we want to find a vigor to change absolutely our lives, we have to show the world that we worth something, that our live matters and has a meaning. How to retain decisiveness and energy for everything you still have to do? How to believe that you still have time to win your live and that you will win it?
Aging further, our energy and our health are decreasing. We need a willpower to conquer sicknesses, to do light physical activities, to continue to maintain our mundane life and sometimes just to get up from bed. We have accomplished a lot up to this point, but there still thing we want to do. How to have faith that you still can dare? How to win your life every day?
Undoubtedly there are many approaches, strategies and technics, which can help us to reach our goals and to become a winner in all of these and other situations, but we will look closer only at very narrow range of them – use of symbols to believe in our victory. An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Traditional Symbols by J.C.Cooper tells us that symbols of victory are the palm, crown, garlands, wreath of laurel, ivy, myrtle, parsley, the triumphal arch and wings, but today we review one of the most popular symbols of victory – the V-sign.
As many other sings and symbols, the v-sign has different meanings.
With the back of the hand facing the signer (palm of the hand facing the observer), it can mean:
The number ‘2’.
Victory – in a setting of wartime or competition. It was first popularised in January 1941 by Victor de Laveleye, a Belgian politician in exile, who suggested it as a symbol of unity in a radio speech and the subsequent “V for Victory” campaign by the BBC. It is sometimes made using both hands with upraised arms as United States President Dwight Eisenhower and, in imitation of him, Richard Nixon, used to do.
Peace, or friend – used around the world by peace and counter-culture groups; popularized in the American peace movement of the 1960s. The commonality with the symbol’s use from the 1940s was its meaning the “end of war”.
V (the letter) – used when spelling in American Sign Language.
If the palm of the hand faces the signer (i.e., the back of the hand faces the observer), the sign can mean:
An insulting gesture in Australia, the Republic of Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
The number ‘2’ in American Sign Language.
When used with movement, it can mean:
Air quotes – flexing fingers, palm out, one or both hands.
This hand shape is also used in a number of signs in many sign languages, including (in American Sign Language) “to look” (with the palm down) or “to see” (palm up). When the pointer and middle fingers are pointed at the signer’s eyes then turned and the pointer finger is pointed at someone it means “I am watching you.”
The ordinal “second” in American Sign Language has the V-sign palm forward, then the hand turns (yaws) until the palm faces backward.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_sign
Considering the purpose of this post – to support our winner spirit – we will review only the meaning of this sign as a symbol of victory.
A legend states that V-sing came from the Battle of Agincourt (1415) during the Hundred Years’ War, when British archers were so skillful and intimidating for their foes, so when French caught an archer, they would cut off his two fingers which are used to pull a bow-string. And those bowmen, who still had the fingers, would show them off to bait their frightened enemies. Also, possible that the v-sign was derived from an old symbol of horns made with little finger and index finger. ( A Dictionary of English Folklore)
During World War II the V-sign acquired the popularity by being a symbol of Victory.
On 18 May 1939, the French daily, Le Monde Quotidien had a headline of, ‘V pour victoire’. On 14 January 1941, Victor de Laveleye, former Belgian Minister of Justice and director of the Belgian French-language broadcasts on the BBC (1940–44), suggested in a broadcast that Belgians use a V for victoire (French: “victory”) and vrijheid (Dutch: “freedom”) as a rallying emblem during the Second World War. (Wikipedia)
Later the V-sign started to being used by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
By President of the USA Richard Nixon.
Donald Brownlee, principal investigator from the University of Washington, flashes victory signs to celebrate the successful arrival of Stardust material at the Johnson Space Center in Texas.
Now we need to understand how we can use the V-sign for our victories. It is actually pretty easy – the v-sign will help us focus on our goal. If you want to win, if you want to believe that you will succeed, the v-sign will remind you about it. You just need to have it somewhere near you.
When you loosing your energy, when you are close to give up, look at the v-sign, remind yourself about your goal, focus on it and go for it!
What v-sign we can use as the reminders? Actually, any you can find and make visible for yourself when you need it.
> A great Japanese warrior named Nobunaga decided to attack the enemy although he had only one-tenth the number of men the opposition commanded. He knew that he would win, but his soldiers were in doubt.
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> On the way he stopped at a Shinto shrine and told his men: “After I visit the shrine, I will toss a coin. If heads come, we will win; if tails, we will lose. Destiny holds us in her hand.”
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> Nobunaga entered the shrine and offered a silent prayer. He came forth and tossed a coin. Heads appeared. His soldiers were so eager to fight that they won their battle easily.
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> “No one can change the hand of destiny,” his attendant told him after the battle.
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> “Indeed not,” said Nobunaga, showing a coin which had been doubled, with heads facing either way.
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