Making Lemonade

For years, my life’s motto has been the old saying- “When life hands you lemons -make lemonade”. I have made a lot of lemonade, let me tell you!! I also like some of the variations on this particular theme.
Such as the comedian who quips, “Why doesn’t life hand us some tequila and salt at the same time?” Or this from a card my sister sent me years ago- “Hang in there…sometimes life hands you lemons but then you can make lemonade. Of course, sometimes life pulls down your pants, runs a power sander across your naked butt, then pours lemon juice on your raw abraded buttocks…In that case, a cool citrus drink wouldn’t help but, darn it…you’ve got to hang in there anyway!”
It’s really just a way of declaring the fact that this journey we call life is going to be rough at times. No one who lives long enough can avoid it- things happen that we don’t like. Things happen that we hate. Things happen even when we are standing in the middle of the room screaming, “I DON’T WANT TO DO THIS!!!”
It seems to me that as we get older, we make some kind of peace with life’s lemons. We’ve seen them handed to everyone. We’ve seen ourselves and others survive the lemon toss. Instead of a “life sucks and then you die” attitude, we take on a “life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans” attitude. And we really come to know what the word “bittersweet” truly means.
But now that I’ve been in Oregon for 10 yrs., I’m thinking of adopting a new life slogan. The one I’m thinking about is more suitable to the “green” movement that is so popular in this state. It actually seems to be to be a little more appropriate to my own circumstances. Here it is- “Compost is just a pile of sh** that when mixed in with other stuff turns into something really good!”
So, I am trying to turn all the sh** in my life into something really good. I’m composting!!
At least for now- I just heard something this morning that I can see as being very appropriate in the future. “I just get up every day and do what my rice krispies tell me!”
That’s the view from my side of the street, what’s yours?