On Lemonade
In Portal 2, there's a lovely quote about when life hands you lemons, you make flammable lemons and burn down life's house with them.
I think the 'lemons to lemonade' phrase really gets a bum rap, because it's seen as the politest way of saying "Suck it up", or alternatively it's the cheery optimist. There's no realistic component or no emotional sympathy in it. But I've realized something when it comes to life, and it relates to this saying.
Let's say your house is engulfed in fire. You have no control over this fire, and there is nothing you personally can do to stop it. All you can do is watch until the fire's out.
Now there you are, your house has been burned down, all of your possessions except what you could grab are gone. What do you do? You could become homeless - you couldn't have prevented or stopped the fire, and now you have nowhere to live, there's nothing you can do about that. You could go to a shelter and stay. You could move in with your parents, or stay with some friends. You could file for insurance and buy a new home. You could decide that this is a good time to move somewhere you always wanted.
Once something bad happens to you, or a plan falls through, the choice you make to deal with it is important. You always have choices. What you want to do is to make the situation your own. It's not "grin and bare it" but to find some way to benefit you, to make a outcome more bearable by using your own talents. Because one the unchangeable event has occurred, now it's on you to do something about it.
Too many people surrender because they couldn't control what happened before, and now where they are is different (often worse). Don't do that.
I think the 'lemons to lemonade' phrase really gets a bum rap, because it's seen as the politest way of saying "Suck it up", or alternatively it's the cheery optimist. There's no realistic component or no emotional sympathy in it. But I've realized something when it comes to life, and it relates to this saying.
Let's say your house is engulfed in fire. You have no control over this fire, and there is nothing you personally can do to stop it. All you can do is watch until the fire's out.
Now there you are, your house has been burned down, all of your possessions except what you could grab are gone. What do you do? You could become homeless - you couldn't have prevented or stopped the fire, and now you have nowhere to live, there's nothing you can do about that. You could go to a shelter and stay. You could move in with your parents, or stay with some friends. You could file for insurance and buy a new home. You could decide that this is a good time to move somewhere you always wanted.
Once something bad happens to you, or a plan falls through, the choice you make to deal with it is important. You always have choices. What you want to do is to make the situation your own. It's not "grin and bare it" but to find some way to benefit you, to make a outcome more bearable by using your own talents. Because one the unchangeable event has occurred, now it's on you to do something about it.
Too many people surrender because they couldn't control what happened before, and now where they are is different (often worse). Don't do that.