When life hands you lemons ... and you don’t like lemonade

We’ve all heard the cliché phrase “when life hands you lemons, make lemonade!” The spirit behind this overdone witticism is generally understood, but it has lost its power. The meaning is simply to make the best out of any situation. But, sometimes we don’t realize how to do that. What happens when you don’t like lemonade?

When the fear of COVID-19 started sweeping North America and our local businesses were forced to shut down, there were a lot of different reactions that people could have had. Some people reacted in fear, some in anger. But that’s just it — are we acting on our circumstances, or are we reacting to our circumstances?

Life happens, and sometimes not the way we want it to. It is very true that making poor choices in life can lead to bad circumstances. Not handling your finances properly can lead to evictions or other problems; not eating well and not exercising can lead to poor health or early death. But, outside of our own decisions, we can’t control our circumstances.

What we can control are two things: Our actions and our attitude. What are you going to do with the circumstance that was handed to you, and how will you respond to it? Are you going to grumble and complain, and blame the circumstance for failures?

Many of our local business owners had this choice to make when their doors were forcibly closed in March. What actions could be taken by someone who could no longer act in their own establishment? Many chose to stay open as essential, despite business slowing to a crawl. Many others chose to launch online sales for the first time. Still others chose to open by appointment, and regardless of their strategy, most of them made decisions to come back stronger, cleaner, and more organized than ever before.

The “time off” became “time to do everything we haven’t had time to get done.” It was busy! It was productive. It kept people going. And it kept attitudes positive. When the buck stops with you, you cannot afford to have a bad attitude.

Don’t empower your circumstances with blame. If someone or something else is responsible for where you are in life, you have to ask that someone or something permission to get out. Don’t ask your circumstances for permission to succeed.

Easier said than done, yes. Do it anyway. If you don’t like lemonade, make a lemon cake instead. Or just use the lemons in a slingshot and chuck them right back at your circumstances.

There are only two things in life we can control: our actions and our attitude. What attitude will you have today, and what actions will you take on your circumstances? Choose wisely.

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Nancy Croll is a representative of the Bonners Ferry Chamber of Commerce and co-owner of Boundary Consignments.