My father said this phrase to me when I was growing up in the 1950s a lot. It meant, "Whatever you can walk away from doesn't matter." So if a car missed you by 1/4 of an inch he would laugh and say, "A miss is as good as a mile".
Near death experiences seemed to happen almost every day in the 1950s in my life. So, I too would say in my mind, "A miss is as good as a mile" and then I would laugh because I was still alive. I suppose it is a very macho way of perceiving the universe. But it is important to note it is THE motto of those who settled our country against all odds. Anything that didn't kill you instantly you could laugh about.
Too many people today seem to live in fear of their shadow, fearing to take the slightest risk in case they might hurt their little pinky finger. Whereas when I grew up no one actually expected to live to be 70 or 80. In my mind as a child I thought I would be lucky to live until 30. I had no idea I would ever be alive still at 61 like I am now. Even in my twenties I thought I would die by 25 or 30 and thought people who told me to prepare for 40,50 and 60 were kind of nuts. I'm sort of glad I lived more in the moment. My life has been much better because of it. I hear about people every day who say they did everything right and were loyal always to their company and were laid off in their 50s with nothing and are now on the streets. I think it is important to take your life in your hands and really live it. If you die you die but if you don't live it you have no one to blame but yourself.
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