Everyone loves the phrase “make lemons into lemonade,” but I prefer another phrase that I think communicates the same message, but is a little more “realistic”: Enjoy the imperfections.
For example:
A friend of mine once told me that he was very upset that his son wasn’t into athletics. The kid was more into the arts, and was less of a “bro” in general.
I understood why my friend was having a tough time with it. He himself is very into sports, and I know he always expected that they’d be a way to bond with his child.
On the other hand, most boys that age are gung ho about sports. They're a dime a dozen. I found the fact that this kid was a little bit different – he started wearing a suit and tie at the age of seven(!) – was refreshing. It was special.
I told my friend: “Enjoy those things. Have fun with them. Embrace them.”
My friend thought that a perfect son would be an athletic son.
But nobody’s “perfect” and that’s a good thing. If everyone was perfect, life would be so boring, wouldn’t it?
I believe we’re all “flawed” in different ways to make us unique. And it’s the combination of all of us, with all of our different abilities and desires, that leads to human progress. It’s about us complementing each other – not echoing each other.
Another quote I love is: “A great marriage is not when perfect couples come together. It’s when imperfect couples learn to enjoy their differences.”
I think that’s true with our friends, and our coworkers as well. Our differences are what allow us to learn from each other.
And I’m not just talking about people. The same goes for our experience of life.
It’s our varied experiences that allow us to learn from life, and to improve ourselves.
If life really was just a bowl of cherries, where would that lead?
We’d all get so sick of that cherry-ade.
PS - A great quote for the parents among us:
"[Children are] hardwired for struggle when they get here… our job is not to say, “Look at her, she’s perfect. My job is just to keep her perfect — make sure she makes the tennis team by fifth grade and Yale by seventh grade.” Our job is to look and say, “You know what? You’re imperfect, and you’re wired for struggle, but you are worthy of love and belonging.”
