“When life gives you lemons, you
make lemonade!”
I don’t recall where or when I
first heard that, probably in junior high, maybe high school. The basic premise is that when life, for
example, sends trouble or a problem or tragedy your way, you figure how to work
through it. Or, in other words, you make
lemonade.
Over the years, through various
circumstances, life has thrown me many a curve-ball, and bushels of lemons. I like to think that I’m pretty good, for the
most part, at solving problems and working my way through tough times.
I survived marriage and divorce,
the death of my mother (at the tender age
of 44, just shy of her 45th birthday), the passing of both sets
of grandparents, my step-father and father, legal issues, and many, many
potholes on the autobahn of life. And,
pretty much, came out on the other side in one piece, nonetheless for wear and
tear.
How do we manage making that
lemonade? Well, we have our friends, our
families, our co-workers, occasionally our bosses, our pets (ever the
optimists), Facebook “friends”, our “higher powers”, our online blogs, and
well, ourselves. We talk to ourselves in the mirror every day,
console each other, send out tweets and texts, and just generally help each
other muddle through.
I’ve found that sometimes I can
solve these problems by “sleeping on them”.
That is, letting it go when I’m very tired at night, and then somehow,
miraculously in the morning things just seem to work themselves out. Couldn’t tell you how, but yes, they don’t
seem to be the oversized monsters that they were a day earlier. Other times, listening to music is just
enough of a distraction that I drift away, tap my foot, hum or sing along, and
then… *BAM!* There it is, plain as
the nose on my face. Still other times,
I manage to work through things while putting together a blog piece, like right
now.
As I am writing
this piece, well, technically, typing
it in MS Word, I am 5 days in to moving from a furnished studio apartment (that’s being very
generous, by the way) into a completely unfurnished 3 story townhouse just east of the downtown, urban
center of the city. The neighborhood is
primarily multi-family homes, townhouses, apartments, and single family house
of varying architectural designs. It’s a
pretty typical, bustling neighborhood, lots of activity, average amount of
traffic, and very middle class.
Work hard, play
hard, have a sense of humor about yourself and life, and make the best damn
lemonade that you can!
Oh, and don’t
forget that lemon slice on the side of your glass as a garnish.
