What We Make of It

This week has had its fair share of ups and downs.  With customers lining up at Starbucks like crazy, friends going through tough times, sleep deprivation, a crazy work load, and some of my reactions being less than ideal it would be a lie to say that the week has been a proverbial piece of cake. What does one do when everything (and I mean everything) is going wrong and no matter what you do or say nothing seems to make the certain situation better?  It seems that no word can fix what is so broken and no action can take and make whatever was shattered whole again. What do we do, as we all face these ever present moments on a day to day basis?  Where does the strength come from to carry on and make the best of a not so great place in life.

 

The other morning a customer yelled at me for for comping his coffee. The morning started out like any other morning. We were on our “A” game as far as being your friendly neighborhood barista’s go.  The drive thru was running like clockwork and we were killing wait times in the best time possible.  We had asked a car to pull around while we made one of his drinks. It didn’t seem like a terrible request. We had even said the drink was on us because we has made a mistake the previous day on his order. . As I gave him his beverage two minutes later he yelled at me. I was shocked. I had no idea what to say or how to react. I was beyond speechless.  He said we should have gotten the order right and that we had no idea how to our jobs.  How hard was it really to ring something up correctly?  That giving someone a cup of coffee meant that we were implying he couldn’t afford to pay. We had only tried to make the situation better and had somehow managed to make it worse.  I could lie and tell you that I was the perfect angel and handled the situation with perfect grace. But I am not much of liar and telling tall tales really gets a person no where fast.  My sarcastic side came out however and got the better of me.  I replied that he could come inside and that we would be more than “happy” to charge full price for his drink and that I was terribly sorry we had insulted him by trying to make it right by giving him a free drink. I then rolled my eyes none too covertly and said I could run and get my general manger if need be. He declined and sped off. Was this the ideal way to handle anything?  Of course not.  Yes, some of my words rang a ring of truth but my tact could have played a bigger part of how I reacted. Yet again the lesson of reaction and how much we all can learn from moments like these weighed heavy on my conscience.  So the next time, because there will be a next time, I will learn to reflect on this moment and try to be better and seeing in whatever situation it is that I find myself in next. Will I be perfectly successful? I am certain that I will try, try again.  Each time becoming a better version of myself. Each time that I trip and make a mistake it makes me stronger and makes me rely not so much on myself but on the strength of others when I cannot go it alone.

 

Relying on the strength of those that love us most when we find ourselves too weak to have the courage to carry on makes the journey of life so much richer and full of more promise than we at times can even fathom. Think of the moments that you were at your lowest point. Was it even possible to have made it to the next part of the journey all alone? Or was it the people and the ever present,  presence of God that made life worth the fight and effort to move forward onto new and amazing things despite life taking it’s hard hits and not always being raindrops and roses.  God never said that life would be easy. We had it easy at one point and human nature stepped in, curiosity got the better of us and just like that life was not nearly so easy.  There is a genuine want and desire to be around others.  Life was not meant to be lived and not alone.  There is a quiet and gentle presence that calls for us. It is unwavering. The gift of being loved beyond measure is ours for the taking but only we we fully decide that we want it.  I always picture the gift of God’s love never truly leaving us. But it can be so silent when we decide we want nothing to do with it. The door closes and yet the choice to open the door is ours and ours alone.  Do we really and truly want to live life without a love that never fails?  I know for a fact that I would have never made it through the tough times without the agape love that is ever present in my life.  I would be nothing without God, my family and my friends that make me who I am today.  

 

A world without love, true love that surpasses all understanding makes the tough times bearable.  A smile, a text message, a simple thank you has the power to let the door be opened even if it’s only a small crack to the beginning of a life that is forever changed because all we had to do was say yes.  Yes to life that has a love that will never fail even when we all as humans will fail each other. Although failure is a terrible pill to swallow it will happen much to our dismay. But when we have a presence to rely on that is beyond this world that is where failure never truly wins. Failures are only lessons learned and the opportunities to get up and try again.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

clear formPost comment