Rethinking clichés: Why digging deeper into old sayings can lead to new insights

As I’m sure is the case for most people around here (or anywhere, for that matter) I grew up with a good deal of familiarity with certain expressions and wise sayings.

“If the shoe fits, wear it.” “You don’t get flowers without some rain.” “Nothing changes if nothing changes.” Those are just a tiny sample of what I’m talking about. I’m sure you and your family/friends could likely add dozens more.

And, while it may be helpful to summarize wisdom in a tidy little package for the sake of brevity — it’s not always the best morsel of information necessary at the time. Sometimes you need to dig a little deeper.

Having generally been a skeptic about most things throughout my life, journalism has been a good fit for me because I’m inclined to ask questions. I’m inclined to look below the surface and seek deeper information. And that applies to most things in life — not just the professional side of things.

One example that comes to mind is the wise old axiom: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

Now, that sounds all well and good, but we can go a little deeper.

I’m not saying that isn’t valuable advice. It certainly is a positive attitude, if you can maintain it. But when we dig a little deeper, there is other valuable information to be gleaned.

If you weren’t aware, the lemon isn’t a naturally occurring fruit. It was engineered by humans. It was the result of crossing a citron with a bitter orange. We made it happen.

So.... life didn’t give us lemons. We gave them to ourselves. Sometimes you are your own worst enemy. Sometimes you make your own problems. Maybe we could take a new perspective on this old saying and learn to get out of our own way.

Another favorite expression that everyone has heard since 1994 is: Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.

That line, uttered by the character Forrest Gump in the movie of the same name, was something the character heard from his mother. This was ranked as #40 in the American Film Institute’s list of the top 100 movie quotations in American cinema. And there seems to be a certain level of wisdom in the saying — which could be why so many people have liberally incorporated the saying.

After some research, it isn’t immediately clear to me how old Forrest Gump’s mother was in the book or the movie. But it is reasonable to assume she was born at least in 1900. The reason I point it out is that at some point in her life, Whitman’s Sampler and various other candy producers printed guides to the confectionery delights inside each box of chocolates — most often found directly under the lid.

I became aware of that information when I was a child, because one too many times I had plunged my hand into the box and gagged on a raggedy coconut candy (it’s a texture thing). So, I was surprised to learn that so many people didn’t know that fact after the popularity of the Forrest Gump movie.

So, if we dig a little deeper, we can move past the initial thrust of the saying and we can modify it a little. “Life is like a box of chocolates. It can be extremely disappointing if you don’t educate yourself and follow directions.”

Sometimes we get in our own way. Like... if you just grab chocolates without checking to see what each one is supposed to be, then you are potentially giving yourself lemons (for a short time at least) and you create your own problems.

I said all of this to illustrate the point that sometimes it is helpful to dig deeper than the surface and go beyond the obvious point that was initially intended.

Developing new perspectives — even for old ideas — is not a bad thing. Even if it doesn’t hold all the answers you seek, it can often put you on a better path for the future.

Sometimes you can look at things differently and walk away with a sense of real enlightenment. And other times, you can do things differently and avoid getting a disgusting piece of nasty chocolate-covered coconut in your mouth altogether. That is a win all on its own.

Jonathon Dawe is a staff writer at the Daily American Republic. He can be reached at jdawe@darnews.com.