Almost Right

6/23/09

As we used a key to pry the camera battery from the confines of the charger, I started thinking about those situations in life that were like this battery, almost right, but not quite. In this case, all the evidence pointed toward Alisha’s dead battery trying to revive itself in my conveniently available charger. I mean, both of our cameras were Canons and the batteries were the same shape, so naturally my foresight was going to save the day. But rather than click into place, as my battery did, Alisha’s battery didn’t quite fit. She pushed and shoved and finally the battery lodged itself into place, yet it didn’t light up. Despite all the pushing and shoving and forcing, the connection just wasn’t right.

Instantly, the wheels in my chaotic brain started churning and I was reminded of a past relationship that was much like this battery. All the evidence pointed toward it working, toward it clicking into place. Our shared love of all things college sports and our mutual desire to travel the world were just the beginning. But just like that battery, no matter how much I forced things, it still wasn’t the right connection. No amount of pushing and shoving would make him spend more time with me or call me more or be the type of man I needed in my life. Michelle, 31, could also relate. Carlos was nice enough, smart enough, and cute enough, but deep down she knew there was something missing. Her desire to have a boyfriend led her to keep him around past his expiration date. She tried everything in her power to make him “right,” but soon realized that trying to make her “almost right” relationship right was like finding a fabulous pair of stilettos in a 7 ½ and attempting to squeeze your size 8’s into them. Not a clear and obvious misfit. Close, but just not right.

The moral of these stories, whether it’s a battery or a shoe or a relationship, is if the fit was right, you wouldn’t have to force it! So what’s this mean for us? Well, it begs us to figure out when to cut our losses. When to finally find a key and pry the battery out of the charger. When to at last accept that having no circulation in your toes isn’t sexy no matter how sexy your shoes are. When to realize that no matter how much time you give it, almost right is never going to be enough so you should move on already.

For Crystal, 28, it was the moment she realized that as much as she loved Kevin, she wasn’t in love with him. She didn’t want to spend her life without finding the kind of love she thought she deserved so she broke things off with him. To her, a lifetime of almost right would be like that almost right swimsuit. Adorable, but the cut reveals just a little too much of your goodies for free.