Nearly

Merril said she “nearly won” when she was scratching a scratchy today.  I guess that means she had two of the three things needed or something like that.
If nearly counted I would be really good.  I recently played darts against someone who knew their stuff and had been a proper darts player.  They knew all about weights and distances etc.  They could talk the talk.  Me, I fire at the target and hope.  Any way I “nearly” won.  I was so close on so many occasions.  If I needed a double four I was just on the wrong side of the wire.  He won.
In table tennis I nearly hit the table on so many occasions (yes, unbelievable as it sounds, I do miss).  I would be really good if nearly got me the point.
I remember hearing someone say they were sick of hearing about “potential.” (I think I would prefer to forget that now.)  Anyway I have experienced it for myself and seen it in others.  They could be really good at something but never apply themselves and so never fulfil their “potential.”  I have seen folk that seemed to be good at everything and unfortunately achieve very little.  It seems I need to know what I want and go for it.
When it comes to matters of luck I don’t think I could be any better.  Though I did see on TV them doing a story on someone who had been incredibly lucky. They had him buy a scratchy for the story.  He scratched $250,000 on camera.  I won a chook once.  It was memorable as it was the only thing I have ever won. Oh in thinking about it, I did win a table tennis bat once.  It is just as well it was about giving rather than winning, cause the bat had zero life in it.
What is the saying “you make your own luck.”  I know with practice I could be a better dart player or table tennis player.  I doubt I could ever be the best but I could certainly be better. There was a time I really practiced table tennis.  I paid to be coached by one of the best (he was Chile’s number one).  My game improved a lot.   I imagine too I started from a low base. I guess it depends what a person wants to concentrate on.
We see it at the table tennis club all the time. People who are willing to invest the time and effort to improve their game.  Personally I now think practicing should be illegal (for everyone but me of course).  I mean these players improve and go past me.  Somehow that does not seem right. There is one young fella in our club who seemed to live for table tennis.  He was the only one I ever saw run to table tennis.  He is now a Queensland rep and one of the best players in our club.  I could beat him once.  That is a distant memory now.  I know it is easier for a loser to say but winning is not everything.
So at this point I console myself with “nearly” as I am really good at that.