When Life Gives You Lemons

"When life give you lemons, make lemonade."

This saying is one of the most common and used sayings in the english language, it is basically saying that when life presents a situation that turns sour try to make the best you can out of it. It tries to promote optimistic outlooks on life and encourages a positive attitude. The interesting thing (to me) about this saying is that it presents a very good idea but the idea is so horribly flawed. If you were to become diagnosed with a terminal illness how would you be able to make "lemonade" out of that? I mean other than literally making lemonade... It is implying that the entire situation can be changed from good to bad by juicing it (or... looking at it differently). I mean it would have to be the entire event being changed because lemonade isn't good in certain cups it is poured into and really awful in the rest. But regardless it is a situation that turned sour and wasn't seen coming. Simply because of the way this is put I truly hate the saying "When life gives you lemons make lemonade."

A similar idea that isn't a quote would be yin-yang, the black and white circle that is typically seen in asian cultures and as cliché tattoos on guys. It is the idea that life is filled with good (the white half) and bad (the black half) but in all of the bad there is always good (the white dot in the black half) and in all the good there will always be bad (the black dot in the white half). To use the example from before; you are diagnosed with a terminal illness which is obviously going to be viewed as bad. But instead of trying to change that entire situation from black to white (as suggested by the lemons example) the idea is to try and focus on the good in the bad situation. One example would be that it would likely provide an entirely new outlook on life and a greater appreciation for the remaining experiences. I (though I am probably just weird) would actually feel kind of relieved to find out the time when I die. As sad as it would be it would kind of spare me from the "surprise" that everybody will eventually go through. Now it's not that I am suicidal or going out of my way to put myself in dangerous situations but when I die I would rather it be on my terms than on someone else's. It would also make all the stress of every day life so completely meaningless, but it's human nature to appreciate these stresses and fight to survive. Anyways... yin-yang is really awesome. Vastly superior to lemons. Yeah. 

-UsedtobeSadeeiq

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