Adventures in Retirement- Making lemonade out of life’s lemons

I’m one of those guys; you know, one of those guys who sees a silver lining to every rain cloud, makes the most of the cards he’s dealt, give him lemons and he makes lemonade.

I’ve always been a positive person, but with age I am growing even more positive; I see a positive side to every health issue or piece of bad luck I get.  When I lost 20 pounds as a result of a serious surgery, I took advantage of the weight loss to decide to maintain a healthier weight.  When I tore my rotator cuff, I found to my delight that the injury slowed my golf swing and improved my golf game.  When I injured my jaw, the injury caused me to eat more slowly and reduced an acid reflux problem I had.

It’s not always easy to find a positive side to every bad thing that happens, but if you maintain a positive attitude, you will find it is easier to see good things in your misfortune.  It takes practice to see a positive side to every problem. When things go wrong in a person’s life, there is an impulse to get mad—mad at a person, mad at yourself, mad at your maker.  Also, dealing with bad things can contribute to a feeling of depression.

All the bad things in a person’s life—medical, physical, luck, a friend or relative’s problems—are normal aspects of life. No one can avoid them.  You must fight the negative feelings.

When experiencing one of these problems, it is best to sit down, calm down and think positively.  You should be able to accept that these things are a normal part of life. From there, you can look for a positive side or result.  Finding a positive aspect of a problem will help make you less angry, and better able to cope with life’s lemons.

Best of all, finding a positive side to every problem, misfortune or negative event will make you a happier person, and more pleasant to be around.

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