Updating the making lemons into lemon-aid adage
November 16, 2016 10:01 PM   Subscribe

The phrase, "if you've got lemons, make lemon-aid" has become my internal mantra, but its beyond cliche to use in real life. Certainly there are more creative and other ways to deliver this same message... please help me find a few?
posted by Unsomnambulist to Religion & Philosophy (20 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: "There are no problems, only opportunities" is another old cliche, but not quite as cutesy as the lemonade one.
posted by The otter lady at 10:32 PM on November 16, 2016


Cave Johnson, CEO of Aperture Science, has this to say (YTL, 46 sec) about life giving you lemons.
posted by Sunburnt at 10:54 PM on November 16, 2016 [4 favorites]


turn a 'seeming' disadvantage into an advantage.
posted by j_curiouser at 11:53 PM on November 16, 2016


Best answer: As my boss kindly reminds us, "opportunity usually presents itself as a pile of shit."
posted by HoteDoge at 12:18 AM on November 17, 2016 [4 favorites]


Pressure makes diamonds
posted by rubster at 12:25 AM on November 17, 2016 [3 favorites]


"start where you are, use what you have, do what you can"?
posted by citands at 1:58 AM on November 17, 2016 [3 favorites]


When life closes a door, look for a window. Or some variation of that...
posted by Toddles at 2:32 AM on November 17, 2016


Bloom where you're planted.
posted by BusyBusyBusy at 2:33 AM on November 17, 2016 [6 favorites]


I've always thought that Ursula Le Guin's epigraph to her Earthsea books expresses a similar idea: "Only in silence the word / Only in dark the light / Only in dying life: /Bright the hawk's flight /On the empty sky." (The first two lines, or the second line alone, can work as a mantra).
posted by Aravis76 at 3:32 AM on November 17, 2016 [1 favorite]


Best answer: When you feel like you're buried, realize you've been planted, and start growing.
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 4:47 AM on November 17, 2016 [1 favorite]




In Steven Universe, there's the line: "If every pork chop were perfect, we wouldn't have hotdogs." When I went looking for a clip to link, I found a list of other lines the creators considered using! They're just as wacky and adorable.
posted by spelunkingplato at 5:15 AM on November 17, 2016 [4 favorites]


I'm a fan of this one [GIF; tw: mid-90s cynicism] from Red Meat.
posted by scruss at 5:53 AM on November 17, 2016


When you're stuck in a pile of shit, look for the pony
posted by Mchelly at 6:05 AM on November 17, 2016 [2 favorites]




Two lines spoken by Hercules Mulligan in Hamilton are helping me get through chemo:
"We in the shit now. Somebody gotta shovel it."
"When you knock me down, I get the fuck back up again."

If you don't mind dark humor, Sarah Silverman has said, "When God gives you AIDS - and God does give you AIDS - make lemon-AIDS."
posted by FencingGal at 7:11 AM on November 17, 2016 [2 favorites]


We can't always control our situation, but we can control how we respond to it.
posted by adamrice at 7:27 AM on November 17, 2016 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Slightly different tone and a bit out of context but:

"Possibility and limitation mean about the same thing."

~Flannery O'Connor
posted by sockpup at 8:11 AM on November 17, 2016


Best answer: I've been getting a lot of traction with "You can't polish a turd, but you can roll it in glitter."
posted by Mayor West at 9:31 AM on November 17, 2016 [1 favorite]


“That’s how God works. Sometimes you don’t understand it, but He is giving you things that you can take out of your toolbox and use later in life”

- Tina Knowles, "Becoming Beyonce"


“Not everything you lose is a loss”
posted by amicamentis at 10:48 AM on November 17, 2016


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