Lemons and Lemonade....

An often-quoted adage and decent advice goes something like this:  "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.."  I got a wonderful continuation to this....But, if life doesn't give you some water and sugar...your lemonade is gonna suck!"  Yep, thatz whut I'm talkin' 'bout today!

As Barbara, a very dear friend of mine, pointed out on Face Book this morning...another wonderful adage...TGIF!  Yes, thank goodness it is Friday. The work week slows down for a couple of days and lets us do something more fun...like clean house, do laundry, shop, cook, uh-huh..fun stuff, you know what I mean.... perhaps go to the movie, have dinner out at a nice place, go to the beach and get a bathing suit full of sand...hhmmm..work days may not be all that bad....oh, well---we all love Fridays because it is the gateway to the much beloved weekend---So, TGIF--but that was last week's blog!

I had a friend many years ago..he has since passed on...that used cliches quite a bit in his conversations. I think of him occasionally and wonder why he was not more creative and spontaneous in his speech. He was a college educated...in English, nonetheless....man and was, otherwise, quite pleasant. I suppose everybody feeds from the "RUT" to some extent, but many times I am struck by the over use of such mundane, overly-worked expressions. Such lack of originality makes us mediocre. I, for years, have contended that mediocrity is the bane of existence when one becomes content with it. When we become content with mediocrity, we pretty much are a slave to common, mundane, average, a quality of life that is adequate but not very good. So, why would any of us want that? Okay, if we accept that throughout our lives...what will we being willing to settle for throughout eternity?  Somewhere between outer darkness to dwell with Satan and his legions and heaven in the presence of our God, our Father in Heaven....okay, now, given these choices...which one would you prefer?  Eternity is an awful long time....mediocrity is without texture or accomplishment...a failure to excel...to realize our divine potential as offspring of God...and besides it just ain't much fun! Mankind exists that they might have joy....in this life and the life to come....common isn't joyful, mediocrity has no felicity, and so-so just plain causes a vacuum in our brains. (See, were I one who tended to use cliches, I would have said so-so sucks!) Having a vacuum in our brains disallows anything but trash and dust to collect, like a really good Hoover...no joy, no fun. Success and genuine happiness is seldom serendipitous. It is something most of us must learn and earn as we go...excellence is an antonym for mediocrity..so at the risk of being cliche, I will strive for excellence.

Now, adages and cliches are not necessarily the same...my mother was an avid adage adapter, she was not so much a claimer of cliches.  Her attempts to convey her message many times were accentuated with what we may refer to as parables, she used stories and adages to help the listener..even if not a willing listener such as a child that may have gone astray or stepped outside her acceptable parameters...get her point.   My mother would tell you what she expected of you, then she would tell you a story about someone who did not do what they were told and the consequences to which they fell victim. Most of the time she would then tell another story about someone who did as they were told and the reward they experienced by being obedient...much like the scriptures we read....yep, my Mother was well honed in ministering her brand of scripture...which by the way, was never in conflict with those in biblical or latter-day scripture.  She was also quite adept at instilling those messages into your mind with a good smack it she felt it was deserved...I think sometimes those smacks were administered as a result of her intuitive notion that even if we didn't deserve them right then, we would more than likely deserved them some where down the road...a very short distance.

Hot as heck...common.  Quick like a bunny....unimaginative. Is it hot enough for you?  Disturbingly irritating....
Age before beauty, Bite the dust, Bury the hatchet, Call a spade a spade, to fall for someone, and keep up with the Joneses are reported to be the six most used cliches....I suppose they all, initially, worked well.  Now, they are "old hat" and work as well as an "old dish rag."  Throw them out--like the "baby with the bath water;" do not continue to "beat a dead horse."  Go "upward and onward," "shoot for the stars,"  "lengthen you stride," and remember "the buck stops here (with you)."  "Be all that you can be," and make your life fun. You will be "happy as a clam."  Now, that brings us to another question:  Just how happy is a clam and have you ever heard one laugh? (A future blog?)

When life deals lemons....while lemonade is quite good..when made with sugar and water...go ahead and be bold...make lemon pie! All the world will love you for it.