Larry said, “I don’t like this.”
Curly said, “What don’t you like?”
Larry said, “Life has given me a lemon.”
Curly said, “Well then we know what to do, don’t we. When life gives us lemons, we make … “
Larry said, “Stop! I know what you’re going to say, but before you go any further … I don’t like lemonade. It tastes sour in my mouth. I dislike that feeling. In fact … I fear that feeling. It makes me feel like I’m having an allergic reaction.”
Curly said, “I see. Are you allergic to lemonade?”
Larry said, “No.”
Curly said, “So you assumed because I started saying something that it was going to end the way you presumed?”
Larry said, “What do you mean?”
Curly said, “Just because you’re faced with lemons doesn’t mean the only outcome can be something you dislike or fear. You can change the outcome.”
Larry said, “How?”
Curly said, “Take control of your fear. Don’t assume the worst. So what would happen if I made this lemon into lemonade and offered it to you?”
Larry said, “I could politely decline the lemonade … or I could sip it and identify … politely, it wasn’t to my taste, but as a courtesy I would try it.”
Curly said, “And what if I told you the odds of me making lemonade with this lemon are very slim?”
Larry said, “I don’t understand.”
Curly said, “Sometimes when we hear things over and over again, in the media, or on television or radio, we make assumptions that the worst possible things that can happen are definitely going to happen … to us personally … we go straight for the place of fear. It’s good to prepare for the worst and identify what we would do if someone offered us lemonade … BUT … we also have to allow ourselves to imagine how we can move forward with what we are offered, in an appropriate way, but without fear.”
Larry said, “I’m listening.”
Curly said, “If I said to you … when life gives you lemons, make … how would you finish it?”
Larry said, “When life gives me lemons, I would like to make lemon cake.”
Curly said, “Then that’s exactly what we’ll do.”
Larry said, “Wait. What just happened?”
Curly said, “You explained your situation in a reasonable manner, and as a result, your fear didn’t come true. You changed the narrative.”
Larry said, “So when life gives me lemons, I don’t have to make lemonade?”
Curly said, “When life gives you lemons, don’t restrict the possibilities to JUST lemonade. And if you’re reasonable … perhaps instead of getting what you don’t want, you’ll be able to have cake instead.”
Larry said, “All of this talk of cake is making me hungry. Can we bake a cake?”
Curly said, “I thought you’d never ask.”
And so Larry and Curly baked a lemon cake.
In truth both of them would have preferred chocolate cake. But life had given them lemons and they were determined in spite of what everyone said … that they were going to make cake.
And that is exactly what they did.
Fenton & White 