Turning Lemons Into Lemonade

Just some thinking off top -
Being a child of God I realize that one absolute spiritual key to effective self-mastery and Self-Realization is the ability to turn lemons into lemonade. I know that life will not always go according to my preferences. When there are only super strong preferences, we are happy no matter what happens. We still want our preferences met but our happiness is not based on achieving them.

As a student of the Word I also understand that from GOD's perspective everything that happens is positive and should be looked at as a gift. The proper attitude to everything in life is "Not my will but Thine will be done". No matter what happens in life no matter how horrific the example, this is the proper attitude. God says to "Welcome adversity." It's just so hard sometimes to struggle through welcoming the bad things because somehow they are suppose to make me a better person. From GOD's perspective there are no accidents in the universe and everything happens for a reason. The reason is always to Spiritually teach a lesson that needs to be learned.

I do feel as if the sometimes the "negative" things that happen are caused from personal karma. That's a whole other subject though. The truth is it doesn't matter why it happened or where it came from, if it happened, you can be assured that the lesson was needed for some reason and the proper attitude is to welcome it, accept it and look at it as a gift. If I would only believe what I type.

We can respond from our lower self or our Higher Self. We can respond from unconditional love or from fear. We can respond from separation or from oneness. This has been a life long struggle for me. It seems as if my life has been often been filled with a barrage of lemons at once. Not to say that I haven't had sweet and perfect lemonade in between. The question is will I turn the bad into lemonade or will I keep tasting the bitter taste of the lemon. I know this is all governed by my attitude and perspective. I do know that no matter what happens in life and no matter how bad the occurrence, it is my responsibility to turn that experience into lemonade. It's just so hard to stay focused sometimes when the lemon has squirked it's juice in my eye.

I was re-reading the the story of Job in my bible this weekend. This story tells how a man loses everything, and I mean everything, but ultimately turns it into a Spiritual test of his "Righteousness" in believing in GOD. Job's statement in the Bible is one of my favorite quotes where he says: "Naked I come from my mother's womb, and naked shall I leave. The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord." I had to remind myself of this on many occasions when I have been asked to give up certain things. No matter what happens in my life the key is to "Focus on what I can do instead of what I can't do!"

I read somewhere that a person who has an optimistic positive attitude will ultimately remain so no matter what happens in their life. A person with a negative, pessimistic attitude will find a way to feel unhappy even if outwardly things are going well. I've realized that the world is nothing more than a projection screen for our attitudes and interpretations.

I know I'm getting a bit religious but if I can curse with no shame I have to be able to rejoice in my Lord. Making lemonade out of lemons. Jesus did this well. He knew that when he was on the cross "Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do." Jesus saw this situation as a Spiritual test and lesson in forgiveness, and demonstrated this understanding in a most extreme situation.
We've all heard "this is a blessing in disguise". I'm making lemonade out of lemons.