Near Miss

     This has always been one of those expressions that just disgusts me. "Disgusts" might be a strong word, but it's not even 8 a.m., so pretty much everything disgusts me right now. I also have two exams today, so that doesn't help.
     Anyway, what exactly is a near miss? At its root, it means that something nearly misses you, meaning that it barely hits you. But as I'm sure you know, in practice, we use it to mean that something barely misses us. "I dodged a bullet. What a near miss!" In all the patience I can muster after a sixth consecutive night of four hours of sleep or fewer, I feel the need to break it to you that that's not a near miss—it's a near hit. A near miss with a bullet is when you get grazed by it or otherwise not mortally wounded.
     I have absolutely no idea where this went wrong. I mean, to me, this discrepancy is pretty obvious. I've never really talked to anyone else about this, so I'm not sure if anyone agrees with me, and I don't have a clue what would have caused us to morph this phrase into its opposite. I mean, I can understand the problem with phrases like, "I couldn't care less" becoming "I could care less." At least the two are similar and the mistake stems from an already-existing, proper expression. But where did "near miss" come from? To my knowledge, there was never a corresponding correct version.
     Basically, the point of this whole thing is to show you that I'm confused. I'm confused at how this error could have occurred, and I have no advice for fixing it other than to fix it. Part of my confusion is that if no one else seems to notice this, there is a strong likelihood that I'm wrong. If that's the case, don't take my advice.
     Looking more deeply, I see a near miss as something that could have easily been avoided—maybe not always "easily," but at least through the exertion of an honest effort. Some of my mistakes haunt me to no end, and I wonder if I'll ever be able to forget that embarrassing comment I made or the time I tripped over a soccer ball (note: both of these happen literally every time I speak and play soccer, respectively). Probably not. I'm hard on myself that way. Forgiving myself for sin, while necessary and wonderful, is one of my greatest challenges. And the thing that makes it all worse is hindsight, wherein I see that every mistake I've ever made was really a near miss, something I could have avoided if I had really wanted to and tried hard enough. Yes, God knows that we will sin, for which He provided a means of overcoming sin, but he doesn't doom any of us to failure. We should each be capable of controlling ourselves. Parenthetically, not every mistake we make is a sin; some are just mistakes (see Dallin H. Oaks's insights).
     A friend of mine once told me, "Experience is ironic—you don't have it until after you need it." And with that experience, we are able to look back and kick ourselves for not having seen more clearly. The first example that comes to mind is watching anything from the 90's and asking, "Why on earth did I wear that?" No one knows, other than that you thought it was cool, and so did everyone else. Reason soon came to enlighten your mind, but it was too late. The shame has still been etched into the soul. So what do we do about it?

     In the words of Jeffrey R. Holland, "The past is to be learned from but not lived in." If there's one thing I've learned from Timon and Pumbaa, it's that you have to put your behind in the past (or something like that). We can't continue to punish ourselves after we have already paid the price. Godly sorrow is essential to repentance, but we need to remember that it is always constructive, impelling us forward in order to set things right. We've all had our near misses, but that doesn't make us deserving of perpetual unhappiness. We're allowed to move on.
     So moving on, what can we do to avoid near misses in the future? The first thing is to be smart. Use that wonderful brain God gave you and think. I have faith in humanity (sometimes), and I believe we're all intelligent enough to make wise decisions when we make them with our brains. America has been proving me wrong, though, lately.

     Look at this picture. Is this really what we want? Are we absolutely sure about that? If you support either of these candidates, that's okay. It's your right to participate in politics as you choose. But seriously, maybe you should actually pay attention to who they are and what they say. I guarantee you in every way, regardless of which of the two becomes president, we will regret it. We will say, "How could I have let this happen? Where did we go wrong?" But it will be too late. We need to be smart ahead of time. And in keeping with the message of this post, these two mistakes can be so easily avoided if we try hard enough. Here are some ideas: vote. Two-thirds of Americans don't vote because they don't care or they don't think their voice will matter.  Next, study. Their words speak for themselves.
     Finally, especially in the case of Trump, don't become so divided that he wins by default. Only 35% of Republicans want Trump, and 65% hate him. That's obviously a lot more, but voters haven't been intelligent in their way of opposing him. 65% of Republicans shout, "Anyone but Trump!" but they can't become unified. Of that 65%, let's say 30 goes to Cruz, 25 to Rubio, and the remaining 15 between Kasich and Carson. Trump wins automatically, despite massive opposition from the party. But we could so easily avoid this if we acted more intelligently! I'm not here to decide between Rubio and Cruz, because honestly, I myself have jumped between the two more than once. But at this point, why would you vote for Kasich or Carson? Carson is my favorite on the stage, but his only function in the primary right now is to steal votes that could debunk Trump. Kasich is the same. Splitting that 15% between Cruz and Rubio, they both beat out Trump! Imagine what would happen if Cruz and Rubio decided to team up (Pres. and VP or VP and Pres.). It's very clear: most Republicans don't want Trump. But we'll get him unless we're careful, and then we'll always regret that near miss.
     Mistakes happen, and we will probably never (in mortality) reach the level of spirituality, self-control, and intellectual maturity we desire. But we have the potential to become as God is, and to do so, we will need to learn; we will need to improve. So let's start now, and let's do it intentionally. One day, I hope to stand before God and feel comfortable and safe in His presence. I want to look back on my laugh and smile at the time I spent with my family and the overall decisions I made. I will forever kick myself if I miss out on those joys, especially if I miss them nearly.

Mistakes, if handled correctly, can teach us great things. Here's a video about

why God may actually encourage us to mess up (not sins, mistakes):