When Life Gives You Lemons, You Make . . .
By Kenzie Fisher*
Lemonade, right? But what if I don’t know what kind of lemonade to make?
Today, as a twenty-something person, we have so many opportunities to do whatever we want. To me, it’s overwhelming. I already have a tough time making decisions; it’s amazing I can get dressed in the morning. I feel like life is all these different directions you can take, and if you don’t try something now, you could regret it later.
But how? How do I avoid those regrets? How do I become the successful person that I want to be? You see your friends around you doing cool things, and you automatically think, “I could’ve done that!” or “Why didn’t I do that first?” You feel that knot in your stomach, and it does something to you. It’s like the flight or fight response. Everyone knows you should fight so you can accomplish something you can be proud of. But if it’s too overwhelming to figure out what to do, you choose flight and then find it difficult to make something happen for yourself.
Facebook, for instance, can be a dangerous place. I’ve read things about how it can make you depressed. You see everyone posting happy, fun, cool things that they’ve done, and it makes your own life feel inferior. Even though everyone is not always doing those happy, fun, cool things all the time. It’s amazing the mask we can show the world of ourselves.
So how do we make things happen? I realize you just have to do it. Just like Nike’s motto. Just DO it. Try something! Don’t just sit by and watch others do it and get depressed. Try everything until you find your thing. And don’t be discouraged when things don’t go as you wanted. Do what makes you happy. Don’t worry if you don’t have a million followers or whatever else. Live your life!
The scary thing about all those opportunities is which one to do. Well, try them all. Or if that’s too many try a few, and see what happens. You have to risk it for the biscuit.
I’m not really one of those people that reads inspirational stuff, but when you don’t know what to do, sometimes it’s nice to see encouraging words. And I think maybe that’s how we can start to change from choosing flight to choosing to fight.
Don’t be dormant in your own life. Be active. Better yet, be proactive. I could list all these quotes and clichés, but I won’t. All I know is choose something and do it. You really do have to make it happen. Watching TV is not magically going to get you where you want or need to be. Trust me, I am the first one to be on the couch relaxing with some TV. But I know I can’t just do that. I have to figure out how to make things happen or get up and try something else. And you can too. JUST DO IT!
Make some lemonade and make it however you want. Sweet, sour, tart - it’s up to you. Just try something and see how it goes. You can always go get some more lemons.
*Kenzie Fisher is pretending to live the dream in Los Angeles, CA, but she actually prefers the East Coast. If you are interested in guest blogging for us, contact AsToldOverBrunch@gmail.com.