How do *you* make lemonade?

[punkorange]

What do you do when life hands you lemons? I mean, when you're working forty hours a week to make enough money to almost support your family. Barely able to pay bills and keep gas in the car. How do you make the best of such situations, because it's hard. I feel myself getting more depressed as time goes on, and I know that things will eventually work themselves out, but right now it pretty much sucks.

Just my chance to talk about it, thanks for listening.

 

[Eolin]

Lemons are great. I squeeze them dry and mix with warm water. Great, cleansing lemon water. Its awesome, good for you stuff. I'm going to go grab a lemon right now!

... I think I just intentionally missed the point. I've never been in the situation where I have to support other people, and I have an amazing network of friends who help me out when my situation gets bad. So I don't really have any advice.

 

[ThirdWizard]

I don't like lemonade. I'm screwed.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

What do you do when life hands you lemons? I mean, when you're working forty hours a week to make enough money to almost support your family. Barely able to pay bills and keep gas in the car. How do you make the best of such situations, because it's hard. I feel myself getting more depressed as time goes on, and I know that things will eventually work themselves out, but right now it pretty much sucks.

Just my chance to talk about it, thanks for listening.

I guess I might do a few different things.

One thing for me is just to take a little time to play with my kids. Getting down on the floor with them and making then smile and laugh just by having fun reminds me what matters most. The bills will always be there, work will always call, but my kids will only be this age for a short time.

Before I had my kids, I would make future plans. Not detailed about how much money I will need etc. but just concepts. I'd think about taking some classes, trying a new hobby, etc. Give me something to look forward to rather than focus too much on the problems of the moment.

I also might try and do something I would feel proud of accomplishing. Might be digging a new garden, fixing a broken piece of furniture or even planning a fun D&D session. Things that didn't cost $$$, but took some effort and left me with something I could look at and know I had done good work.

Last thing, and this one I always come back to: talk to my wife. Often times she will have a different perspective on things or have small solutions I had not considered. Sometimes I just get support or an understanding ear, but it is enough to lift some of the burden - or to keep to your analogy - sweeten the lemonade enough to be able to drink it.

 

[der_kluge]

I guess I've always been pretty fortunate with my life. I've never had very many lemons to work with. Whenever I'm stressed out, I like to eat out some place, but that's about the extent of it. I don't normally have a lot financial problems, so I'm pretty ok in that department.

 

[reveal]

You take those lemons, stuff them in your mouth, grin and bear it, and get your ass back in college.

I went to night school for 10 years to earn my bachelor's degree while supporting a family. With it, I was able to get a job with great growth potential and a great salary (no hourly wages for me!). My wife also has her bachelor's and got it by going to night school while working full time. The sacrifices we made were definitely worth it and our son is reaping the benefits. Plus, if you go to school, you have a goal to work towards, which always makes life easier to swallow.

 

[loki44]

What do you do when life hands you lemons?

Spike it. In other words, add something to your routine to make it more interesting. (No, I'm not advocating substance abuse.)

 

[Crothian]

I much perfer lemon Juice, no sugar for me thank you

 

[I'm A Banana]

To quote the GM Hold Music....

"When life hands you lemonade, kick it in the balls, and say 'I wanted a beer, b*tch!'"

In other words, if you don't like where you are in life, see what you can do about changing it. Sounds like you're having troube making ends meet with the job you have...so work towards a new job, have your SO get one, think about what ends you really "have" to meet and what ends are just really good to meet...

It might not work and you might not be able to do much, but if you constantly try for a change in the situation, you won't have time to be depressed, because that's just time you could be spending working towards that lemonade!

 

[punkorange]

I guess I should note that I am going to school earning a bachelors in game software development, and I work full time as computer operator making decent wages for where I live. My SO is a fulltime house wife and mother though, which is good for the family and my son, but it doesn't help pay bills. I guess the best thing for me to do is be patient, let the lemons firment, and have a party when it's done.