Words from Dic(tionary)

Almost: (adv.) not quite or very nearly: e.g. he almost knocked Georgina over

I don’t want to be cynical but I must point out that we have become the Almost States of America.

“Almost” is our new favorite word. It used to be a compound word — “fries-with-that.” But now, we have embraced the message of emotional anemia, spiritual weakness, mental denseness and physical laziness.

May I give my definition of “almost?”

• It is the universal certificate given for trying.
• It is the party thrown for a victory that never arrived.
• It is the hug provided for losers.
• It is the hand grenade that never exploded.
• It is the swimming pool without water.
• It is the kiss on the cheek.
• It is the “let’s be friends” in the vernacular.
• It is the pat on the back instead of the vigorous thump.
• It is the reassurance we give one another, that most of the time it is the lot of human beings to see the finish line and pull over well short, for a McDouble.

I am guilty of failing, but I have forbidden my addicted, crack-whore soul from going down the path to the pusher of inadequacy and getting my fix of blandness.

Yes, I am prepared to fail without being told that I tried.

I want to look at the pile of stink I’ve left behind in my endeavors without insisting that it’ll be good fertilizer for the future.

I want to admit that my “almost” was not only not good enough, but should be forgotten as quickly as possible, in a flurry of sweat-drenched training.

• We almost have a President.
• We almost have a Congress.
• We almost have progress.
• We almost have racial equality.
• We almost have an educational system.
• We almost have a solution for poverty.
• We almost have drug addiction on the run.
• We almost have figured out gun control.
• We almost have a church.
• We almost have entertainment.
• We almost have excellence.
• We almost have almost of what we need, without having almost of what it will take to do almost everything.

Don’t tell me I tried. Don’t tell me I almost got it. Let me fail. Let me suffer.

Let me rise from my ashes  … and do better.

The Almost States of America could never have won the Civil War. We could never have defeated Hitler. And we certainly would never have landed a man on the moon.

If we’re not careful, hundreds and hundreds of years from now we will be remembered like ancient Athens–a society that tried democracy … and almost pulled it off.