I’ve never been a big fan of the phrase, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”. Folksy, hokey, give it a name. It just never sat well with me. I guess maybe all the times I’ve been given this little nugget of “truth” it was being uttered by someone who really didn’t know what I was going through and honestly didn’t really give a damn. It’s one of those phrases that most people throw out there to make themselves feel better, let’s call it a “Selfish Positive”.
It’s like in the 1985 classic Ladyhawke and Rutger Hauer is telling Matthew Broderick he’s been talking to God about what he should do with his life and Brodericks’ retort is, “Sir, the truth is, I talk to God all the time, and, no offense, He’s never mentioned you.”.
This week was one of those weeks where I really needed a little honest direction. Where to start? I lost one of my jobs. Come to find out, I wasn’t 22 years old and a cute blonde girl. Well, I’m cute, I just don’t fulfill the rest of the requirements. But, being the seasoned bartender I am, I have a couple of gigs. As you get older in the “biz” you realize that variety in this job, is the spice of life (Is that a “Selfish Positive”… I’m not sure?). Still stinging from the fact that I lost one of my jobs for no valid reason, I went out to the garage and was on my way to the other job when the sound emanating from my car was-well, there was no sound to be totally honest, it was dead. Now mix into all this, my beautiful mother is getting ready to start her 3rd round of chemotherapy this week. Can I just tell you, I’m spent!!
Yesterday being Valentine’s Day, I really tried to put on a happy face and have a great day with “Mom on the Rocks” and my lovely daughter. We had a great day!!! Steaks, cheesecake and a couple of hours trying to figure out which fledgling entrepreneur has what it takes to sway the judges on Shark Tank. I fell asleep happy and content.
At 5am I woke up after a rather unsettling round of dreams and just couldn’t fall back to sleep. Slowly moving my way to the couch I turned on the t.v. and found myself drawn to one of my favorite movies, Meatballs. If you haven’t seen it, go pick up a 5$ dvd copy of it and simply enjoy. A VERY young Bill Murray plays camp counselor Tripper Harrison, who spends most of his time overseeing the C.I.T.’s (Counselors in Training) causing mischief whenever he deems it necessary. There’s a scene near the end of the film where Tripper sees that his entire camp is overwhelmed and ready to give up in their crusade to finally beat Camp Mohawk. He steps up and delivers a monologue whose mantra is, “It just doesn’t matter”. Rumor has it Murray told writer Harold Ramis and director Ivan Reitman to let him improv the scene, which makes it all that more special.
I felt some ease in my chest and my brain started to stop moving a million miles an hour. The mantra of “It just doesn’t matter” began to sink into my bones.
It just doesn’t matter if I lost one of my jobs, I’ve got another one and it’s freed me up to spend more time on my blog.
It just doesn’t matter if the car was acting up, it can always be fixed.
It just doesn’t matter Mom is going through chemo again, because God has her in His hands and He is MUCH bigger than me.
It just doesn’t matter if I’m feeling sorry for myself, I’ve got a wonderful family and a group of friends who love me just the way I am.
I’ve since found out, many coaches have used this speech as a motivational tool for their players on and off the field. It’s funny, I guess when life gives you lemons…It just doesn’t matter.