Well after pulling the rip cord about a thousand times I gave up, out of breath and totally discouraged. Yea I'm glad I was not HIGH DIVING!

The steps taken from here on in, are the most taken.

We get flustered! especially because it is time to cut the grass and our time is somewhat limited also."Cool down", take a breath!

The next steps are important to try and figure out what is wrong with this dam thing anyway! Well I would take out the spark plug to see if it is wet for one thing at least that lets me know if the cylinder is getting any gas at all. The spark plug looks pretty wet! Mm mm must be getting gas. Is it time for a tune-up?

If you had this lawn mower for more than ten years it is probably worn out. Its hard to for me to judge however small engines are based on running hours which are about 5 thousand hours, now that does vary of course on what make and model you have.

Overall that is a golden rule. A tune up does not hurt it at all and replacement parts are probably needed by now. The important thing is giving more life to your Lawn mower through constant maintenance. Setting up the air gap on your spark plug does help or replacing it all together is your choice in my opinion and experience, I have been using the same spark plug for over three years now with no problems, so stop wasting your money and learn about small engine repair.
On all small engines you have a cold, start! that is from the cylinder compressing the very first burst of fuel delivered from the intake stroke drawing through the ventura of the carburetor. the "choke plate" must be fully closed and not bent or out of shape of any kind.

http://www.12SCEarn.com/SmallEngineGo.html Learn easy step by step Small Engine Repair