“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” How many times have you heard that? It’s cute when you really think about it, but how many people take the notion to heart?
It’s not easy to turn a bad situation into something sweet. When you’re down and out, you like to hang out there, wallowing in your misery. If you’re lucky you’ll find someone who is willing commiserate with you, two is company, after all. When you finally begin to come out of the stupor, you realize that nothing has changed, so you begin to slosh around in the puddle of suffering all over again.
I won’t tell you that moping is pointless because you already know that. I also won’t tell you that things will get better, because when you’re in the thick of it, it feels like better will never come. What I will tell you is that you have the power to turn your situation around. You can’t control everything, but you can control your mood and your perspective.
No matter what it is that you are going through, there is always an opportunity to make lemonade. While the situation may seem bleak, hope may seem a figment of your former life, but there is a golden center in everything.
I once had the great pleasure of having my car repossessed. I would be lying to you if I told you I wasn’t devastated, because I was… at first. For the first 8 hours, I wallowed. I drank too much wine, then proceeded to paint the bathroom walls in Merlot covered projectile vomit, and then I cried myself to sleep. The haze cleared slightly the next morning, but by day number two, I was making lemonade! Getting my car repossessed turned out to be one of the most profound lessons of my life. The truth was, I could no longer afford the car, but I was too proud to admit it. The Universe saw fit to change a situation that I was not going to change by myself.
That experience opened my life. I realized that I am not my stuff. The things that I have accumulated do not define me. I didn’t get my car repossessed because I was being irresponsible with my money. It happened because my financial circumstances changed, but my financial obligations did not. This was one of those lessons that forced me to take stock of what is really important. Before you start feeling sorry for me, let me tell you that I got a brand new car two days later (thanks to the support of my incredible sister). This is not a sob story, yet I could have easily become a victim, if I had not decided to make lemonade.
Life is not going to go your way all the time. Shit happens, all the time. There will be blood, sweat and lots of tears. You will often feel like the lemons just keep coming, but don’t you dare stop squeezing. Whatever you’re meant to learn from the experience, learn it. If you feel like you can’t do it alone, ask for help. Use your resources! The Universe (and everything in it) is at your disposal.
As cliché as it sounds, the challenges that you face force you to grow. While you’re growing, just keep on making lemonade.
Photos from Microsoft Clip Art gallery