A to Z Challenge 2013

Friday, April 1, 2011

A To Z - And They're Off!

All over the blogosphere, people are beginning the A To Z challenge.  Since I'm also one of those participants, I figured I better get my post up.  Which brings me to the first letter, A.

And what does this post have to do with the letter A?  The word Almost.

For starters, I almost forgot to get things started.  Today has been such an awesome day, with me spending all kinds of time with the family.  Because of my distraction and fun however, I almost forgot to post something.  I almost forgot to do my homework.  I almost forgot to get some writing done.

The word almost is such a funny thing.  It can mean either promise or pain, success or failure.  Let me illustrate what I mean.  If I say I almost sat down and did some writing today, I'm fairly certain most of my fellow writers would call that a failure.  The pain it causes me to think about that use of the word comes from NOT getting writing done.

If we look at things another way however, almost can hold some great promise.  For example, if I say I almost finished all my edits today, everyone knows that I worked hard and that I was striving towards completion.  The very act of trying to succeed in this case overrides the fact that I didn't actually make it.  It's like an amateur runner finishing in second place on a 10K, when it's his first attempt.  Although he doesn't finish first, so many others finish behind him.  He almost wins, and yet there is still cause for celebration.

Maybe I'm stretching things a bit, but I like the possibilities that almost can present.  It gives us an opportunity to pat ourselves on the back, even though we may not have completely accomplished all our goals.  And sometimes that's exactly what we need; a little encouragement and self confidence so that our next attempt results in a big YES!

Before I go, I'd just like to say congrats to everyone who has joined this A to Z challenge and managed a post today.  And for all you visitors, while I doubt we expect that you'll visit everyone's blog (since there are somewhere in the neighborhood of 600+ blogs participating), please stop by as many as you can.  This is a really fun challenge and we all want to hear from you during this month.

Lastly, what goal did you almost succeed at?  And did you pat yourself on the back for the attempt?  Take care all, and see you tomorrow.

9 comments:

Jaydee Morgan said...

Yeah for getting a post up - no almost about it! Have fun during the challenge. My challenge is to read as many blogs as I can - I think I may almost be an eighth of the way through ;)

Eric said...

Jaydee - Thanks. Good luck on reading all the blogs. I don't believe I'll make it through them all, but I hope to meet some new people through this month and this challenge, which is usually a good thing!

Unknown said...

Glad you got this posted in time. Just think, it's the start. You've still got 25 more wonderful posts still to come.

Sandra Ulbrich Almazan said...

My husband always says, "Almost doesn't count except for horseshoes and hand grenades." ;)

Matt Conlon said...

My brother used to always say "Almost-Chicken doesn't make good soup".

I almost started this A to Z challenge on one blog... Turns out, I entered two!

Jeff Beesler said...

Almost does sound like it could be one of those wishy-washy words. It might even be one of those words we've been warned to watch out for on other sites.

The Words Crafter said...

I've never considered the length and depth of the word. Cool!

Noemi said...

After seeing that there are 1179 people participating, I don't think I will actually say I almost visited all of them, but I am sure that when I get to find a blog that I really like I could say that I almost missed it as there are so many participants.
Liked the fact that you made me think.

Eric said...

Cheree - Wonderful posts? You're really expecting a lot from me, huh? LOL.

Sandra - Yes yes, but I was trying to avoid that perspective. Thanks a lot for reminding me...

Matt - That soup depends on whether you really wanted chicken. Maybe you were okay with beef? Oh, and you're crazy for wanting to do this on TWO blogs LOL.

Jeffrey - That's true, but it all depends on your perspective I think. You can look at any situation from two different views, and I'm the eternal optimist.

Words Crafter - Thank you. That was exactly my intention, so I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Karen - I can understand what you mean. I don't like almost accomplishing anything, but I also realize when I am attempting something difficult, even if I don't completely succeed, I try to give myself credit for the attempt. We just don't pat ourselves on the back enough, and I think that's important.

Noemi - Yeah, I definitely will not be able to visit them all. I'm glad I made you think too though. Thanks for stopping by.