When Life (and Business) is Less Than Perfect.... Make Applesauce

Wouldn't it be grand if life was perfect? Fat chance! So what does one do when plans don't turn out as expected, when a business fails, or life just happens? You make applesauce! And that's exactly what I did.

I returned from a Chicago trip this past week. Besides spending an exorbitant amount of money on an unexpected business dinner, I soon discovered that I had lost my return train tickets. Let's just say things were less than perfect and certainly did not turn out as planned. So what does applesauce have to do with all this? If you have ever visited an apple orchard you will find huge bins that contain less than perfect apples. They are generally bruised and considered the harvest seconds. For whatever reasons or circumstances, they are less than perfect. Business and life can be the same. You can plan to your heart's content, do everything within your power to reap benefits from your investments, and even hire the best consultants to ensure you are on track. However, there are times when life just happens and all our tireless efforts fail. We all have those bruised apple moments. So what do you do?

You make applesauce out of those life moments. You drop all those "ugly, bruised, can't do this any more, why did I ever think this would work, what was I thinking, why me" moments into a big pot and steam them until they are mush. It's really quite amazing how you come out with something entirely new. It is what I call life's applesauce. It's mixing a variety of different life events, circumstances and moments that have gone bad and incorporating them into life's mixing pot. You then put them all through a sieve, discarding the ugly stuff, so you can produce something even better.

My grand kids sure enjoyed this week's "applesauce moment". When you think that all is hopeless, when you're not sure how to turn a bad experience into something good, when you question why bad things happen to good people, or get frustrated with the bruised apples that fall at the base of your tree of life...remember, make applesauce!