No one likes to fail. 

And truth be told, I have been on the losing side on many occasions, some of the time because I did it to myself.

Not that it's because I sabotage myself, but because I am not perfect and I make mistakes.

For instance the other day, I was delivering some zucchini bread to a client some distance from my apartment.

I decided to walk and save a few pennies by not riding the bus, and they waited a bit longer than normal.

Normally I am very punctual and have actually upset folks for being on time..(really odd from my perspective, but what can I do?)

Getting there late with the bread, 10 minutes late to be exact, made the person say, "hey, you are normally on time, what happened..." 

They said it with a little chuckle. But it hit me hard and I walked back running it in my head a few times.

I was so used to "winning" or in other words, "confident" in what I was doing, that it was just normal for me to take the good for granted.

I was unable to see this, but others noticed it because from their perspective, I was not taking their time seriously.

Sometimes winning, forces others to lose...

Which I really didn't understand until one time a client told me that my bread was better than another persons who she bought from on the weekends.

She had decided that she would only purchase from me. Later finding out that the other person was very poor, and sold her different kinds of bread for more money.

I instantly felt like a terrible person, and decided to stop selling to her knowing that she only came to me because my bread was cheaper.

To many, this may sound ridiculous, and I lost a client for no reason...but to me, it's about perspective. It was about HELPING the poor, not taking away opportunities from them.

Yes, the lady didn't want to pay extra for bread, and that makes obvious sense, but how can I continue, knowing that the other person REALLY needs the money?

I have adjusted my behavior according to how Yashua would view the situation. 

So is this failure? Many people would see it that way, but I don't. I see it as doing the right thing.

Brush off the pity party, and be better...

Often I go through times where there are no bread orders, or students cancel classes just minutes before.

I start to see myself getting upset, or even sad.

But why?

Each of us are in control of our emotions, and when unexpected things happen, we act as though it's against us.

Often times, we need to simply let the things happen that happen, take a deep breath and find something else to do. 

It isn't always about me, this is why empathy and understanding is important...it keeps us from taking things personally.

Make an effort to meet others halfway...

I have a problem with this, and because I kept a tight schedule, it was sometimes annoying to me when someone asked me to meet them closer to where they live, than where I live.

It takes time away from the next thing I need to be doing...in my eyes.

Meeting someone where they are or halfway shows that you are willing to go the extra mile.

I have purposefully made an extra effort to give extra time to things like this.

Instead of having one thing after another, I give 15 minutes leeway for unexpected things.

This obviously doesn't always work out, but at least I find the extra minutes help.

But we can be better, and do better, if we just decide to change the way we see things. 

It may take a lot of effort at first, but just like anything worth doing, it helps us grow, and helps others as well.

Thanks for reading, and let me know your thoughts in the comments below...👇🏻