When Life Gives You Lemons; Make Lemonade

"A pessimist is someone who makes difficulties of his opportunities.  An optimist is one who makes opportunities out of his difficulties" 

(President Harry S. Truman)

 
It has often been said, "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade."  Lemons by themselves are sour.  Lemons with sugar and water become delicious lemonade.

This phrase is a reminder to us about making the best of things that come our way. 

I tend to buy into this concept hook, line and sinker.  Author Charles Swindoll said “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to what happens to you.”  Things in life are not always going to go our way.  However, we always have a choice how we handle situations. 

It's the summer.  It's hot out.  We've got no pool?  No problem!

 

Prepare to Win

July is here. That means one month left until the start of official practices for many athletes. How will you spend this month? Will you be prepared when October and November asks you to pay up for what you did in June and July? 

Bobby Knight used to say “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail”.

When I was a college basketball coach, I would say, "Basketball may be played in the winter but players are made in the summer."  The same is true for the other sports, as well. Great players don’t train because they love training. They train because they love winning.

Think back to last year? Did the last game end well? Did you have regrets? Do you wish that you had work harder or been more ready? Was the role on the team what you wanted?

Two years ago, our basketball team (of which I was the athletic director) lost in the opening round of the playoffs.  After the game, I spoke to two of the best juniors.  They were very distraught and there were even some tears shed. I commented to them “remember this game, remember this feeling…let it motivate you for next year.”  This year, they won the school's 8th State Championship. 

SUCCESS IS A CHOICE

"Success is a Choice" ... I first heard this phrase when Rick Pitino wrote a book that had this as the title.  It is one of the best quotes I have heard.   In fact, I have borrowed it as the primary motto for my basketball program over the years.  It goes on all of our letterhead, locker room posters and motivational pieces.  In general, every person has the choice of how they act and behave.  Oftentimes, people say that they had no choice to explain why they do something.  You always have a choice.  The author and speaker, Charles Swindoll, is the person credited with saying that life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to the things that happen to you.  Success may not be as quick as you would like but doing things right and making the right choices and decisions will almost always lead to success.  Of course, the definition of success is not always the same for each person so it is important to define what success is to you.  Your actions and behaviors are your choices.  If you choose to do things that have a positive effect on your future then you’ll be closer to being successful.  Unfortunately, the converse to this statement is also true.  Failure is a choice, as well.  One of my coaching mentors, Denny Lehnus, used to say all the time ‘what you do is what you believe; everything else is just talk’.  When I was leaving Kent State University after serving as Gary Waters’ graduate assistant for two years, Coach Lehnus hired me as one of his assistants at Anderson University.  I found out first-hand that he knew what he was talking about when it came to taking what you believe and what your goals are and turning them into good choices.  A few years before I was hired by Coach Lehnus, he had lost a little more than 200 pounds in a year.  At one time, he weighed more than 400 pounds.  He continues to maintain his new health to this day.  Remarkably, even though he lost the weight in a year, the success was and still remains a continual day by day process.  As Robert Collier once said, ‘Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out.”  

Jamy Bechler is the executive director of U-Leadership and a John Maxwell Certified Leadership Speaker and Coach.  Contact him at CoachBechler@CoachBechler.com to find out how you or your team can be more successful.  Click here to signup for THE ENCOURAGING NEWSLETTER