Almost and Always

Success is not set in stone.
It’s not always in the eye of the beholder,
But when it is, it’s easy to please.

It doesn’t really matter how many times,
It doesn’t seem to matter how hard,
You are trying.
What matters is doing the thing right.
Or how much fortune follows you.

It seems easy enough.
Until you’ve given it your all and realized
That you have no idea
What the right way is
To find success.

People tell you that it’s spelled out,
Clear in writing,
That for you, it’s not so hard.
They think that they know
Everything.
That they can say words to help you.

Sometimes you wonder if they’re right
If they really do know how it is
And you’re just too small,
You are just too blind
To see the truth.

But how can anyone know?
How can someone profess to know
Everything about you?
How you think,
How you work,
The things of the past that haunt you.

Success comes almost always.
If you try, if you aim at it well enough,
You might just get there.
But Almost sits calmly,
Constantly sharing the picture
With Always.

That is what they don’t know.
Success does not always come.
Not even to the skilled,
Or the fortunate.

Not even to those who need it most desperately.
Or those who most deserve it.

Success is not always.

And when it isn’t,
Grace intends for us to learn
Failure
With patience.