THERE ARE NO FAILURES

Rewind back about 18 years and right about now I'd be standing behind a bar making something like an old fashioned for a fashionably older man who would be drinking his holidays away.

This was the usual for holiday season in the restaurant and bar industry.

Earlier that day, we had our staff meeting.

I’ll never forget that meeting because it was the first time I really understood how difficult the holidays can be for some people.

It’s a time of year where all sorts of emotions come up; from shitty relationships with our family to sadness from lost loved ones and for some, an overall sense of doom and gloom with another year passing.

Our manager talked to us about the importance of keeping an eye out for our customers who seemed more withdrawn and were drinking heavier than usual. We were taught to go the extra mile and try and make sure each and every person that came in the door, was treated with kindness and love - regardless how they were acting.

In my family, holidays felt like a mixture of excitement and a little stress which after talking to most of you, is common. We tend to put so much pressure on making sure we get everything just right; the gifts, the food, etc - that the overall sentiment of being grateful gets glossed over.

When the older gentleman got up to leave he left me a $100 tip. He said he didn't have family left to buy gifts for so he liked to hit up the local bars and tip nicely as his way of gifting during the holiday season.

In the moment, I was stoked I just made half my night's tips from one customer. But after he left I thought about how hard the holidays must be for him. And for a lot of people who don't have much family or friends.

And also hard for people who have been struggling and feel like they're not where they want to be in their lives.

My biggest gift I've learned that always comes in handy come the holidays is that nothing we do can make us a failure.

THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS FAILING, ONLY LESSONS AND OPPORTUNITIES.

Keep this in mind as you take inventory on where you’re at in your life.