Lemonade Lessons

I had two surprising interactions with people last week. Both of those interactions left me realizing once again how important it is to develop the right perspective in life…even when life gives you lemons.

 

INTERACTION 1

On Thursday our company had the opportunity to attend an extremely important function. After six months of preparation, this was our chance to speak at a huge corporate gathering in front of hundreds of potential customers. Our time slot was 2:45pm and beforehand we polished our presentation until we made sure we were totally prepared. However, upon arrival people were leaving the banquet room because the event had already ended. The corporation had accidentally told us 2:45pm when they really meant 1:45pm.

 

We were too late to make our presentation and missed out on a great opportunity. So when I heard the news I was really upset and disappointed…that is until I met up with my Sales Manager. He had a different perspective. He said, “Don’t worry, it was awesome! The Director of Maintenance told everyone in attendance how great we were and that recommendation, coming from one of their top management people, was even better than if we had spoken ourselves.” Bad situation, great attitude, awesome perspective!

 

INTERACTION 2

On Friday a longtime friend and customer called our office to place an order. We found out at the same time that he is very sick. Before I explain, let me first tell you a little bit about him. Charlie is a very special man, one who epitomizes humility and benevolence; a single Dad who has been raising his autistic son for over 20 years, working two jobs, days at an aerospace firm and nights at Home Depot. Charlie is sweet, kind and always looking for ways to help others. He even volunteers on weekends to host a “Kids Workshop” at Home Depot. Charlie is so good at it that years ago only 6-10 kids would show up, but last Saturday there were over 500 kids in attendance. The kids just love him, and so do we.  

But Charlie has stage four lung cancer. He has lost a lot of weight and all of his hair and the prognosis isn’t good. I prayed for Charlie on Friday night and called him on Saturday morning. And guess where he was… at Home Depot hosting the Kids Workshop! He said he hasn’t missed any time at work yet and he definitely doesn’t want to disappoint the children by not hosting the Kids Workshop. I asked him how he was handling such a difficult situation and the first thing he said was, “I guess I am really surprised because I never smoked a day in my life, so I never expected to get lung cancer. And I guess I am a little sad to know that this is how my life is probably going to end. But at the same time, I’m happy because I still get to spend a little more time with my son and the kids at Home Depot and let them know I love them before I’m gone.”  Really bad situation, great attitude, awesome perspective!

I will never understand why bad things happen to good people. But a part of me believes that maybe it's because it teaches the rest of us to truly appreciate what we have...and turn lemons into lemonade!

  

We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.

                              ~ Anais Nin

Charlie's Kids at the Home Depot Kid's Workshop

(Maybe they're making a Lemonade Stand!)