Take Inventory:

After 18 years of trying, the verdict was in: Pete was a failure! There was just no two ways about it. Everything he had done, every job he ever held and every business he ever started crumbled to dust. On top of that he managed to create over a million dollars in personal debts. As far as Pete was concerned, there was only one way out...

Problem was that Pete wasn't the most courages guy and although suicide had definitely preoccupied his mind, he just couldn't get himself to do it. Oh!; he had gotten close but never made it final.

As far as Pete saw it he really was a failure. He couldn't even do the one act that would let his wife enjoy a better life. After all, the insurance policy was probably just about the only thing Pete had ever done right in his life. Now that he wanted his wife to have the benefits from it, he couldn't even give her that.

No longer in touch with the world, Pete wondered around aimlessly. Unshaven, unwashed and feeling completely desponded, Pete entered a local pub. "Hit me none stop!" he told the bartender. "Maybe when I am stone drunk I'll be able to throw myself under a truck!" he added.

Pouring Pete's drink, the bartender said: "This one is on me! Looks like you could use it too!" Surprised, Pete looked up and gazed into the smiling eyes of the man who just offered him a drink.

Taking the drink, Pete gushed it down, slammed the glass on the counter and in between two quick breaths uttered: "Thanks, now hit me again!"

Once again the bartender filled his glass and once again the bartender said what he had said the first time. Once again, Pete took the drink, swallowed it and once again repeated what he said before.

Just as he had done already twice, the bartender once again filled Pete's glass and repeated his words: "This one is on me! Looks like you could use it too!"

Pete looked up to the man, gazed into his smiling face and said: "What are you doing? You really think I want to kill myself? I want to live man, I just don't know how!"

Quietly the bartender responded: "Life sometimes fights us because we are doing what we are not suppose to be doing! I know. I wanted to be a doctor. I studied and studied as hard as I could. I did several years twice. Eventually I was a doctor. I started a practice that turned out successful. But every day I became more and more unhappy to the point that I didn't want to see sick people anymore. Things got so bad, I actually hated being a doctor."

Listening intently Pete inquired: "So, what did you do? How did you get out from under it? Did you find your life's calling?"

The bartender smiled, filled Pete's glass half-way and said: "This one you have to pay for.... I took a long hard look at myself; not my outside, but my inside. I spent weeks analyzing what made me tick, you know, what makes me want to get up in the morning; what makes me happy."

Taking a sip from his glass Pete glazed up to the man and said: "...And... were you able to figure it out? I mean, you're a bartender now... Is that what makes you happy?"

Quietly the bartender continued: "Well, actually, I own this place but to answer your question, yes, this is what makes me really happy. I like talking to people, I like to laugh, I like singing and telling jokes and I like listening to others telling me their problems. Come to think of it, I guess I am still a doctor. I am a bartender doctor."

"How did you do it?" Pete asked. "Come on doc, tell me, how?"

"For one whole week I wrote down everything about me that I liked; not because I had too or society expected it from me, no, I mean, who and what I was, you know, the real me. I discovered that I tried to live up to someone else's expectations but not my own. I realized that I tried living other people's lives but not mine."

Taking another quick sip Pete inquired: "So, what did you do?"

"Well, I decided I needed to live my life. I needed to do what made me happy. I needed to be me! So.... I hung up my doctor's hat, bought this place and .... the rest is history as they say. That was 9 years ago. It's the best thing I ever did. My life couldn't be more fulfilling... even though I make a lot less money now!"

Gushing down his drink, Pete slammed his money on the table and yelled: "Doc, you got a new customer, that's a promise. But now I got to go home, tell my wife I love her and take inventory of my life. Once I figure out what makes me tick I too will go for it, just like you did. I'll be back to let you know, that's a promise too!"

With that Pete rushed out the bar and did exactly what he told the bartender he would do.



..... to be continued .....