Almost.
“He almost kissed me when…” “I almost got an A on my final but….” “I almost made the team and then…”
These “almost” situations almost always start with hope. You can’t blame a girl for having a bit of good faith in the world, but then comes the anticipation.
Your heart starts racing, your mind starts wandering and you start thinking; “wait, is he really going to kiss me, oh my gosh he’s really going to kiss me, well it's about time, hah, I knew I was so not friend zoned” or maybe it’s “I definitely got an A, well it was weird that most of the answers were “C”s, but that’s how teachers work right, right? They just get tired when making all of these test and forget to switch it up, I studied for hours, I’m fine, I’m great, I aced this exam…” or even “Okay so maybe my legs were sorta bent on that last back handspring, but I know my motions were tight (no spaghetti arms here!) and lets get real, that dance was only five 8 counts, I nailed tryouts.”
Ahh the anticipation, that one is the killer, when you’re just waiting and waiting and waiting. Then comes the “almost” a word that encompasses all ounces of hope and anticipation that your naive mindset once had.
I could write a sappy article full of negative adjectives and depressing examples. I could tell you how unbearably terrible it is to have your hopes denied. I could tell you that you never get over that “almost” one-year relationship or that your life will never be the same because you “almost” made the basketball team but then you whiffed in front of everyone.
Honestly, I almost convinced myself to write this article in such a way. Oh, I almost did, I was so close to almost writing about lost aspirations and the long road of overcoming rejection but then I realized, well that would almost be lying.
Around every corner is an “almost” and sometimes you get ambushed by one, sometimes you even get bombarded by a few in a row. Before you loose sleep over your “almost” streak, make the best out of it.
Why is it that we are so positive, hopeful and assured when it comes to situations during the anticipation phase but once we stumble upon the “almost” scenario, we allow gloom and despair to creep into our mindset and totally swap all of our cute, positive vibes out for boring and consuming negative ones?
Make the best out of every “almost” that you encounter by keeping that same positive mindset that you had to begin with! Now don’t get me wrong, please oh please do not be delusional and force your way to making “almost's" into “happened's".
Instead of taking the crazy-girl-who-is-living-in-her-own-reality route, try this instead:
Know that everything happens for a reason; relationships don’t work out for a reason (and most of the time for A LOT of reasons). Take J Biebs and Selena Gomez’s break up for example, yeah sure our hearts all ached as we saw Selena breaks down on stage while performing The Heart Wants What It Wants, but now as we jam out to Same Old Love and bask at the Instagram babe in her Can’t Keep My Hands To Myself music video; we find peace knowing that things don’t work out the way that we always assume that they will.
Use your rejection as fuel to keep yourself motivated. Never let getting cut from a team or not getting the lead in a play prevent you from working hard and coming back next year. Never give anyone the power to discourage you like that, it’s all about your mindset. Oh, and never worry about being embarrassed, do whatever it takes to achieve your goal. Who cares if you have to be told “no” a few times as long as in the end you find yourself achieving your goal? That’s right, no one cares and certainly neither should you.
Most importantly, be aware. I am begging you, be aware of the signs in your life. Directions are not always clear cut and not everyone is able to find their passion right away. When you are pushed away from something, take a good look at yourself and everything around you. Assess all that is in your reach and then some, maybe the detour was for a reason. Maybe you should try out for another team, be interested in a different type of guy, ask to sit at a less snobby lunch table, apply for other jobs.
However you get through your “almost”s just make sure that you never let them weigh you down. There is nothing wrong with something almost happening, it really is not a big deal and rejection happens literately all of the time. The only thing that actually has an impact on your life is how you react to the rejection, so remember to always make the best out of “almost”.
