Ah, such a darling little phrase that seems to be uttered during tumultuous times whether they be turned outward (world events) or inward (personal struggles). Life sure has a funny way of dealing you a crappy hand sometimes. Some people get dealt several and yet most of those type of people I meet are the ones with the most upbeat and positive attitude. Why is that? Surely they are hiding some type of mystical secret that enables them to get through the bad times. Or it could just simply be that being miserable about your circumstances does nothing to improve the situation. I've met a few people also who firmly believe that by having a positive attitude you send forth a positive energy which in turn attract positives energies back to yourself. But I think that even the most upbeat people have their moments of weaknesses. I mean after all they are only human also. It does take effort to keep up that happy perspective on life especially during difficult times. I mean if it was easy then we would all be skipping around with big cheesy grins on our faces. Turning lemons into lemonade is a reminder to ourselves and others that we just need to tweek our perspective a bit. I actually adore this metaphor and try to keep it in my mind during tricky circumstances. It's my way of reminding myself that good things can come out of not so good situations. I'm not perfect here; there have been times I threw this tidbit of inspiration out the window, into the street, and laughed as I watched it get run over by a truck. We know it's always easier said than done; it's the actions and follow through that turns this cute motivational phrase sour. Let's first look outward shall we? The most obvious and trending event in the world right now is the Trump presidency. History does indeed repeat itself yet prior generations, our own, and future generations never seem to really learn from past mistakes and blunders. Let's compare time to a pendulum. In the beginning it starts out completely still and evenly pointed straight. Then events, public opinion, and let's not forget about the political and financial whales begin to swing said pendulum in one direction. When it swings up to it's most tense point that pendulum begins its descent to the original position. Down it goes to the middle again until those same factors, only the opposite, pull it into the opposite direction. Back and forth it goes until the end of time. Now, how about we turn our attention inwards - towards ourselves. Each of us has their own afflictions whether it be an illness, addiction, financial burdens, relationship woes, or the loss of a loved one. Some of lucky few have the pleasure of owning more than one of these. Somethings are in our control while others aren't but how we deal with our misfortunes is a factor that's always in our control. More often than not we slip back into old patterns that aren't necessarily healthy. Breaking a pattern, especially a mental one, is extremely difficult. To deal with hardships, such as my own battle with Multiple Sclerosis/Devic's Syndrome, I find that awareness and constant repetition seems to be the one sure fire way of preventing myself from falling back into old habits or mindsets. For example, having any type of symptom from my disease automatically makes go into a dark place. I start getting depressed and angry, then I begin to host my very own pity party. Next, I get frustrated and solemnly swear to give up even trying. Finally, comes acceptance and I deal with it in a more positive way - such as being sarcastically dark humored. Hey, whatever works right? So in attempt to stop this unhealthy emotional roller-coaster of despair I try to see myself from a stranger's POV - from the outside looking in so to speak. I take notice of how I handle otherwise depressing circumstances pertaining to my health, along with my finances, and relationships. I focus on my reaction and perception of these things. When I see myself reacting in an undesirable manner I hit the pause button and take a mental note of it, sometimes even writing it down because then it becomes tangible. I do this over and over again so I can learn to take a moment before I react, before I speak, before I judge, and most importantly before I perceive situations negatively. (The last one is a hard one between you and me.) Is this difficult? You bet your ass it is but not impossible. I repeat NOT IMPOSSIBLE.
Scientists say that the time it takes to develop a new behavior is approximately 2 months. But as I'm currently trying to quit smoking I found that I've definitely exceeded this time frame. Still I understand the 2 month marker isn't set in stone and varies from person to person. No need to feel like a failure just because you have set-backs. As it states in this article breaking an old habit by replacing it with a newer more desirable one is much more efficient and has a greater success rate, such as me replacing cigarettes with chewing gum. I did find though that I've actually begun to slowly change my attitude and perception towards many things, not just the negative ones. Don't get me wrong, I mean, I definitely have set-backs and I've absolutely regretted saying things when I should've kept my mouth shut but I'm getting there. Repetition is key! So whether the turmoil is outward or inward you can absolutely turn those lemons into lemonade. I mean the Trump presidency is a hot topic but we all can pull something positive out of it such as realizing that even though one may be Pro-Trump and one may be Anti-Trump we can band together as human beings who all deserve respect and consideration no matter how different we are. And hey, because of the Trump administration's speeches Merriam-Webster Dictionary is making a come back and the world is becoming intelligently literate once again.
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