A Little Bit About…Close Calls

I’m in one of those phases where I’m trying to “branch out” into listening to new music, something other than the same 5 Spotify Pop Music Playlists I always have on shuffle. So I’ve started to listen to some country music. When I say country, I really mean country pop. Therefore, not that different. But anyway, baby steps.

One of the things I’ve started to love about country music is the lyrics, because for some reason they seem a little bit more profound and insightful than your typical pop song. One of my favourite artists at the moment is Thomas Rhett (who also happens to have a song with the lyrics “ain’t nothing that a beer can’t fix”, but I promise that’s not the ONLY reason I like his music).

Anyway, one of his songs is called Almost and talks about how we should be grateful for the “close calls” in our life, the good and the bad, because they’ve made us who we are today. He uses examples of how he almost gave up playing guitar when he was younger, yet now he’s a world renowned musician, and how he almost didn’t kiss the girl…who turned out to be his wife.

Think about it. I mean, there are so many different types of close calls. It got me thinking a lot about some of my own, and made me realise it’s such a positive way to look at things

The things you ALMOST gave up on but looking back now, you’re glad you didn’t: Like sticking to your diet or keeping running when you wanted to give up. I remember thinking in my Spanish classes so many times throughout school and university that I must be mental to WANT to subject myself to embarrassing myself in front of an entire class by having to speak a foreign language out loud and probably (almost always at the beginning) say something wrong. I almost gave up. But I didn’t, I persevered. And thank goodness. Because if I did, I wouldn’t be fluent and I probably would never have taken the opportunity to move to Spain. When things get tough, it’s human instinct to want to bail. But some things are worth sticking to.

The things you ALMOST didn’t even do in the first place: Like talking to that person in the playground when you were 5 years old who turned out to be your best friend to this very day. Think just how differently your life would have turned out if you didn’t even do some of the things you have done over the years? So I say apply for the job, phone that friend you’ve been meaning to catch up with, start that new hobby no matter what age you are – if something is for you, it won’t go by you (as Grans all over the UK would say)!

The “ALMOSTS” which simply turn out not to be for you: Like certain boyfriends and girlfriends, or jobs you didn’t get but wished you did. When these things start to fall apart, it can feel like the world is crashing down around you. But looking back, you can appreciate some things just aren’t mean to be because you have a different path to take in life.

The “ALMOSTS” that could have turned out worse than they did: Like falling and hurting your foot but thankfully not breaking it, or losing your phone but luckily having all of your contacts and files backed up. One pretty prominent example sticks out in my mind for this one. I was in a car accident with a colleague about 18 months ago (a story for another day!) whereby a large container truck changed lane on the motorway without checking his mirrors, and hit our car, sending us into a spin. THANKFULLY, there were no other cars in any of the 4 lanes right at that moment in time, so our car eventually spun out and hit the crash barrier before finally coming to a halt. Albeit the car was written off and we suffered some pretty sore sprains and fractures due to whiplash, we were OKAY! If it had happened even one second before or after, there would have been more cars involved and the situation could have escalated, meaning it was ALMOST even worse. Looking back, I’m so thankful it happened the way it did (albeit I would rather not ever have to go through that again).

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to say we have to look at absolutely everything in life through a set of rose tinted lenses and put a positive spin on it all. But I do think being thankful for the “almosts” and “close calls” in life is a helpful way to look at certain things. Even if it is just something as simple as “I almost forgot to stock up on chocolate yesterday at the supermarket, thank goodness they put those KitKats at the checkout otherwise I would have no Sunday night snack” (true story)!

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