One step forward, three steps back. When you're born poor, and you don't have much of a safety net, even a little bit of trouble (like a drier going out or your car needing a new transmission) can seem overwhelming...like a constant barrage or intentional torture being thrown at you by a malevolent deity with a cruel sneer and flaming red eyes. (Even though we also know, intellectually, that this isn't the most likely cause of our hardship. Makes an interesting story, though!)
So, when life hands you lemons, and those lemons come in a box that also has a poisonous scorpion in it, and the scorpion moves into your house and eats all the chips and monopolizes the t.v. and forgets to lock the door when he goes places, and then someone breaks in and steals all your stuff.... Just remember: IT COULD BE WORSE!
To quote Eric Idle, "Always look on the bright side of life."
Things may seem shitty now, but they will eventually get better---or they'll get much worse, and you'll realize that things weren't so bad, after all, when you thought they were so terrible before. Just take a deep breath, turn on a happy tune, raise your middle fingers to the sky, and then go eat a candy bar. (Chocolate helps with dementors...)
And don't let poisonous scorpions move into your house---it's never a good idea...
---Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)