You can’t win them all.

When we were kids, my sister and I used to play board games with our dad, and Battleship was one of our absolute favorites. It wasn’t just about sinking ships, it was about scheming, giggling, and low-key cheating in the most innocent way possible. We’d pretend we had to go to the bathroom, then sneak peeks at his board, thinking we were being so slick. The best part? We could never remember what we saw. We'd come back feeling like secret agents, only to wildly guess and completely miss. Every time my dad would calmly say, “Miss,” we’d burst into laughter like it was the funniest thing in the world.

Eventually, he started letting us peek. I think he realized that even with insider information, we were hopeless. But we didn’t care. The joy wasn’t in the strategy or the sinking of ships, it was in the belly laughs, the sibling energy, and the way our dad just went along with it. He never got annoyed or tried to win. He just enjoyed the chaos.

That’s probably why this moment sticks with me, and why one of my mom’s classic sayings comes to mind: “You can’t win them all.” She used to say it when something didn’t go our way, a lost game, a bad grade, a burnt dinner. But it’s more than just a shrug at failure. It’s a reminder that not everything’s about winning. Sometimes, the real win is just playing, being together, laughing till you cry, and making a memory that outlasts the scoreboard. And in those moments, even a “miss” feels like a win.