Like It or Lump It....and then...Love It!

This is an entry that allows you to see how my crazy mind can work. Look at it as a learning opportunity...ready? Let's go!!!

Every so often, a phrase will come into my head...and I wonder 'where did that come from anyways?'

And thanks to the Internet...I can get some very interesting background info on phrases.

Which I dig. Dig like nobody's business.

That's not the phrase, by the way.

I don't care for beets.

That's not the phrase either...because I know exactly what that means.

I. don't. like. beets.

Yuck.

According to my Mom, I've NEVER cared for beets. EVER. Didn't eat 'em as a baby even. Why, you may ask?

They smell funny.

Really...really...funny. Like...'funky shoe smell' funny.

To me, anyways.

Now, I know that over the years, your tastes can change. And so, every so often, I'll try a beet. Just to see if maybe this is the year that they rise above the turnip or radish and become the "Root of My Choice" or something.

Nope. Still don't care for 'em.

Ugh.

Let's change the subject for a second, okay? I gotta get this smell of beets outta my head.

I've had a hard week. This past week has not been a very pleasant one in terms of 'fun for Carrie'. I'm sure that if we took a poll, many of you probably had parts of your week that weren't much fun either. What with tax day and all, it's a given that you encountered some difficult stuff. Maybe some difficult people.

How'd you handle it?

Did you like it?

OR

Did you lump it?

Like it or lump it...is the phrase I've been thinking about...and the phrase basically means this:

(informal) if you tell someone to like it or lump it, you mean they must accept a situation they do not like, because they cannot change it.

Hm....interesting. So, where'd it start?

The two recorded forms date from at least as early as c. 1860. . . . Dickens, 1864, 'If you don't like it, it's open to you to lump it.'

Still...I think that people have probably been saying something similar for a REALLY, REALLY LONG TIME....don't you agree?

So...what's a 'lump' anyways?

Turning now to the Oxford English Dictionary:
: LUMP, v. 1. intr. To look sulky or disagreeable . . .: [Quotation:] 1577 "They stand lumping and lowring . . . for that they imagine that their evill lucke proceedeth of him." : 2. trans. In antithesis with "like": To be displeased at (something that must be endured), colloq.: [Quotations:] 1833 "Let 'em lump it if they don't like it." . . . 1878 "I'll buy clothes as I see fit, and if anybody don't like it, why they may lump it, that's all."

Well, there you go.

You don't have a choice. I mean, it claims that you have a choice...you can choose to like it or not....but the situation itself is not changing...so...you're stuck with the lump.

'Stuck with the lump' is fun to type. Even more fun to say aloud. Say it with me...'stuck with the lump'.

You know what?

My husband likes beets. There are several people close to me that like beets. And you know what I do?

Each Christmas I will make Harvard Beets for the beet eaters in my family. I don't enjoy it...but I lump it. Because I love them and respect their beet-likin'...no matter how inconceivable it is to me that anyone could like beets.

Another thought: (please bear with me...like I said, it's been a rough week!)

Not everyone likes me.

As hard as that is for me to believe...I mean, c'mon...it's ME for crying out loud! If I am anything, it's likable.

So what's wrong with people that don't like me? (all three and a half of them)

Nothing.

I'm just a beet to them. That's all.

I'm someone's beet.

(snort! That's fun to type as well. Even more fun to say aloud. Say it with me: I'm someone's beet.)

heeheeheeheeheeheeheehee

Okay...so...where are we?

Like it or lump it....we're stuck with the lumps...and I'm someone's beet. Right. Got it.

Now...hopefully, those whose beet I am...while they may not like me...will still treat me with respect because they recognize the fact that someone else likes me...maybe to someone...I'm their 'root of choice'.

Do you do that with your beets? Do you respect them...recognize that Someone likes them...and therefore acknowledge them...at least once a year?

Yet another thought: (I really apologize about this lengthiness...but I have been seriously thinking about this for the past week now...and I think it's starting to make more sense to me.)

I got an email from someone today. A forwarded email that said, "Love the people who treat you right. Forget about the ones who don't...because life is short."

Hm. What if I altered it a little? So that it read: "Love the roots who treat you right. Forget about the beets...because life is short."

That doesn't sound like what I trying to do. As much as I'd LOVE to 'forget about the beets'...my beet-eatin' family members remind me about them every so often.

You know what else it says? "Love".

Now, I don't "love" turnips or radishes. I like them. But I don't know that I love them.

Hm...love. I've been seriously thinking about love lately. Unconditional love.

Why?

Because some of the things that have happened this week have made me consider it. And so I ask questions. Do I conditionally love? Or is my love unconditional? Do I like everything that happens to me? Do I like all the people I have to interact with? How do I love them when I don't even know that I like them? What am I supposed to do?

Hm....hard stuff to consider. Especially difficult when I get what seems to be conflicting answers.

Like it...or lump it.

BUT....is that it?

I think...as I mentioned...that we don't have control over the situations that come our way sometimes. THAT'S what we have to "lump".

But that's not all. That's not the end...there's more.

We don't have to like something...but we do have to love it.

Like my beets.

I don't like the beets. But I can see their value to others. I can see that they have a purpose for being here on Earth. That because there are people I love that like them....then I can love them based on that love.

Does that make any sense? Therefore, I don't like beets. BUT I love them.

The beet is not important to me...but it has importance. So I need to treat it that way.

Thankfully, there's Someone I know who loves each and every beet.

Like it or lump it...