this wasn't in the plan |but life is still pretty good

A woman featured in a recent Newsweek article is taking the lemons given to her at the gas pump and making lemonade.  In other words, she's found a reason to like high gas prices.

Jennifer Perrow says, in regards to high gas prices, "It's forced our family to rethink our spending habits and our carbon footprint, and we're finding we can do much more on much less than we thought".  Like I suggested in a previous article, she challenges her family to see how long they can go in between fill-ups.  They started carpooling from (and not just to) school and instead of driving the kids to swim practice, they'd bike or walk.  She would stop at a friend's house to visit instead of meeting them at a coffee shop further away from home, jog around her neighborhood instead of driving to the gym, or borrow from a neighbor instead of heading to the store.  The end result is 50% less gas usage, lots of exercise, as well as more time with her kids as they walk to their destination.

What a great example of how shifting your perspective a bit and thinking outside of the box can really benefit you.  The mind is a powerful thing and often just how you think about a situation can determine if it's good or bad.

How do you take a bad thing and turn it around?  How do you make the best of things in a less than stellar situation?