When Life Gives You Lemons, Make a Margarita

“If it ain’t one thing it’s another”

A hood proverb from someone’s grandma once said. 

And it’s true. 

We forget life is forever changing. Nothing can truly be perfect, secure, and consistent. You lose a job, you lose interest in things that once kept you occupied and sane, money becomes low, damage to a car happens, suddenly you’re failing classes, losing someone close to you, and so many other things that can turn your life in a 160 degree condition. 

A lot of us doom-scroll on social media. 

Doom-scrolling is the act of compulsively and excessively consuming negative news and information online, often leading to increased anxiety and stress. 

When we consume so much information, whether we realize it or not, it affects our energy, mood, and desires. When we see so much perfection in others' careers, financial status, ambition, body composition, and aspirations, we question the existence of our choices. 

Our life can’t be an Instagram post. Our life is not meant to be perfect, edited, and angled at the right lighting. 

When I used to enter a dark space or a low vibrational mood, it ate me alive. I would isolate myself, cut people off, self-harm, and stay in that space to not only victimize my position but to drown myself in why everything’s going down the drain. Why would I do that? 

Everything around us has a filter–the people we talk to, our job, the shows we watch, social media, and the music we listen to. 

No one is 100% honest or real about the predicament they’re in. To be truthful, why would people be? It’s exhausting to talk about everything that’s going wrong, and after explaining what’s going wrong, no one can truly help the situation, so we figure, why bother, right? 

But if I can be honest, if people start being 100% real about their life and the situations we all face, there’s a slight chance it not only can heal us but give us the real optimism we need. 

People say when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. 

Or you can be like Beyoncé and make an album.

But if you’re not as creative or vocal, make a margarita. 

Spice your life up in ways you haven’t yet. Enjoy the kick life gives you. Enjoy the head spins, loud noises, and impulsive mood changes. Instead of asking why this is happening to me, remind yourself who it is happening to. Embrace the changes you're enduring instead of hiding from them. The universe won't bless you when you're uncomfortable. You have to be comfortable through all your phases; it's the only way to elevate to the next one. In the end you're the winner. You’ve come out of dark enough spaces before and won; this isn’t your first rollercoaster, this isn’t your first hangover, this isn’t your first head in the toilet. Life changes constantly, and just like an AA meeting, it works if you work it. Something is always bound to happen, to hurt you, to break you, but what’s so beautiful is building yourself back, and that’s where a lot of us give up. 

Isolation is easy. We don’t feel like talking, so we don’t. There’s nothing nobody can tell us that we aren’t already telling ourselves.

Wrong.

We tend to talk more negatively than positively to ourselves. After all, we are our own biggest critics. 

Community is important. You need someone to speak life into you other than yourself. That person won’t judge you, belittle you, shame you, or look at you differently. They’ll uplift you, encourage you, give you advice, and be that listening ear and strong shoulder you need. 

All of us aren't blessed with a community, so we tend to stick to ourselves, and that’s okay, too. Some of us are better off alone, but we can’t choose to speak positively, little to none. It has to be constant all the time. Meditate, speak gratitude constantly into your life, pray, write what you want in your life and your feelings, and go outside for your mental health–do the things you need to do to lift yourself, no matter what that may look like (as long as it's healthy). 

Forget the lemonade, some of us need something much harder. What's your go-to margarita? Add Tajin to my rim, thank you. 

What is something that you do that instantly lifts your mood?

Is it music? Drop your playlist in the comments.  

Is it a friend? Tag them on social media with a screenshot of this article.

Talk to you guys next time. Comment, like, and rate this read. Send this to someone who may be struggling right now and needs a boost.