Lemons

We’ve all read: If life gives you a lemon, make lemonade. Lately I’ve heard: If life gives you a lemon, throw it back and say ‘send something better’. If only it were that simple.

I knew a woman whose father abandoned the family, and the mother and children struggled for years. The result was a daughter who grew up to become an embittered woman. On the other hand, I met a neighbor whose father left the family and the mother and daughter suffered a great deal financially and emotionally, and the daughter came out of it happy and well-balanced. And I wondered …why the difference?

It isn’t what happens to you in life that determines your happiness, but rather what you do after something negative occurs that makes the difference in your life. It is how you choose to deal with the unpleasantness that results in your attitude.

And what is the element that helps or hurts the individuals who suffer? Both women in the above examples attended church and both had mothers who did the best they could. I think the answer has something to do with an inborn view toward things, some indefinable characteristic that tells you how to approach life. And it is a good idea to listen to that inner voice that tells us how to respond to unhappy events in a manner that will help us.

Faith

To believe in God, to care for your fellow man (I thought) meant everything would be perfect, and it wasn’t. So I reflected on this. Finally it came to me. To have faith, to think well of others, and to try to do the right thing doesn’t result in a perfect life. Rather, faith, action, and behavior help one to better cope with the life around us.