When life gives you lemons…what do you make?
Bad days, off days, and the occasional rocky road- we’ve all encountered them, and we’re all still making it through, one day at a time. It’s a part of life. Some days are awesome, and others are, well…not too good. Some we’d like to forget ever happened, and some we chalk up to “it’s just a part of life”, but what do you do when life throws you a lemon, or a whole bushel of lemons?
If you start the morning off with a pitfall, do you let it ruin your day, or do you “shake it off” as Taylor Swift tells us to do? If one small thing doesn’t happen like you planned, does it mean the whole event is a loss or do you say, “Oh well…” and move on?
Sometimes it’s hard to see the forest for the trees as the popular cliché goes. It’s easy to get lost in the small stuff and be upset over what, at the time, seems so important- so huge, that we just can’t get past it. But eventually, if we just take a deep breath, and ask ourselves, “How big a deal is this, really?” we can come around to seeing that not every little things has to be the exact way we imagined, or planned.
A friend of a friend recently had one of these “lemonade” days, as I call them. This gal was hosting a dinner party at her home for several of her husband’s business associates and their spouses. The hostess heard the weather was going to be unusually warm for this spring weekend, so she planned on entertaining on her enclosed porch area which was new and impressive in size. There were five couples coming, for a total of twelve with she and her husband. She ordered a lovely meal catered by a local restaurant, so she would have time to focus on the house. She spent the day before the party cleaning, and arranging her table. Everything was perfect! The morning of the get-together, she ran out to get some fresh flowers from the market. In her haste, she forgot to put their dog in his crate, and when she returned home, she found he’d had an accident on the large area rug in the foyer. Distraught, she set about to cleaning the mess. Let’s just say it was difficult at best to get the stain out. She decided she’d either have to go get a new rug, which she had no time for, or hide the stain as best she could. Searching for something large enough to cover the spot, she found a large urn in the basement that she hadn’t used in some time. She cleaned it up and set it on the stain. Though it didn’t match her decor, it would have to do. She went about getting everything ready, and the food was delivered on time. Her husband came home and asked why the urn was in the foyer. She explained what happened. They got ready for their guests, and were just finishing up when there was a loud crash in the kitchen. Both came running downstairs, horrified at what they might find. There, in the middle of the kitchen floor sat the dog, with the whole container of meat from the restaurant, scattered about, bits and pieces here and there, the foiled pan overturned. The woman burst into tears, while her husband removed the dog to his crate. “We’ll think of something!” he said as he tried to help her clean the mess. What were they going to do for the main entrée of the meal? Guests began arriving, and everyone was chatting, enjoying drinks on the screened-in porch. There was no time to re-order food. They had plenty of side dishes and dessert.
Then one guest, who had been admiring the patio, said “Mike, I sure hope this decent weather we’re having means you’re grilling out tonight!” The hostess and her husband both looked at each other and the husband began to laugh. “Well, you know, that’s not a bad idea, Greg. I don’t see why we can’t!” He laughed and grabbed his wife’s hand. “Honey, let’s get the burgers going!” The wife was dumbfounded. How could they serve burgers to their guests? This was a dinner party, not a barbeque. They had a freezer of ground beef, chicken and steaks but that wasn’t what she’d intended to serve to her group. But, she played along, nonetheless, and got the hamburger patties defrosting. It was a lovely evening, and a small enough crowd for the conversation to flow easily. Soon, while the burgers were served along with the potato puff pastry, glazed artichokes, rice pilaf, strawberry-pecan salad and tiramisu, a roar of laughter erupted as the host and hostess shared their story of the dog knocking off the superbly-prepared prime rib all over the kitchen floor. Their guests were amused and impressed with how easily they had transitioned the dinner party into a relaxed indoor picnic. Without a pause, they had gone from a tragedy, to a success, and no one would have ever guessed. But the hostess’ favorite comment of the evening came from two of the ladies, as they were leaving. She overheard one say to the other, “I love how she decorates, especially that big urn in the foyer! It’s classic and eclectic, too!”
Making lemonade from the lemons you’re served doesn’t have to be bitter. It can be as sweet as you want it. Taking a situation from bad to good can be a challenge, but what’s life without some challenges along the way? It’s how we handle those challenges that make us who we are. Don’t let your day be a loss just because something doesn’t go as planned. Perhaps it wasn’t meant to go as YOU planned it. There’s always a bright spot in everything. Find that in all you do. Without trying to sound like too much of a Pollyanna, I’m here to tell you that bad days are going to happen. They just are. But if you can overcome them by remaining positive, or having a “Plan B” to go to, it alleviates the stress that can come from our expectations of situations and events going just as we plan. Find the humor, the positive, and the beauty in all things.
Now, go make that lemonade when those days happen!
Tami Loves…lemons and everything they stand for!