Oh yes, the lemons of life… Have you heard that term before? Have you heard the statement ‘When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!’. When I got to hear that for the first time, I chuckled, and I laughed pretty hard. For one, I had no idea what they meant, and what they were trying to say. And two, I was thinking, ‘Lemons? Why the heck would life throw lemons at you? What the heck am I supposed to do with a bunch of lemons anyway?’ because I was picturing actual lemons been thrown at me, SMH. But as I started experiencing different things in life, it started making more and more sense. And I am sure it is starting to you as well, isn’t it?
I would love to say, life is all beautiful and perfect, full of joy and positivity at all times… but I would be lying if I would do that. However, you have to realize that there are a lot of events, and situations that you have absolutely no control over. What you can control though, is your reaction and response to it. So here is what this statement is all about… It is a quote, or statement rather, that was created to encourage positivity and optimism when you are facing challenges, adversity, and hard moments and situations in life.
The True Taste of Lemons
Have you bit into a lemon before? It can be pretty sour huh. So this is talking about the ‘sour’ moments in life. The moments of trouble in your life. It’s talking about life hitting you with such moments, and you turning them into something good. Is it easy to do? Absolutely not! Will it be good for you, and benefit you in the long-run? Absolutely!
Life WILL throw lemons at you! There is no escaping from that. The question is, how do you handle it? What are you going to do with it? What are you going to do about it? There will be moments, that will be pretty challenging to deal with. Moments that will be pretty tough to face. But you will have to deal with them, at one point or another. So how are you going to do it? Where is your strength coming from?
Once You Realize the Reality of the Lemons
Let me tell you something I went through not too long ago… I had an event happening in my life, that tore me apart. I thought I had it all under control, and everything was going to be okay. At least that’s what I kept telling myself… But then it hit me pretty hard. And I lost it. I haven’t really dealt with the hard situations in my life so far. The tendency was, to take the easy way out, and shove it all under the rug as quickly as possible. But when this event happened, there was so much from the past that was brought up with it.
I was hurt. I was broken… and I had no idea how to handle it. I started praying, and was begging for help and answers. It was crazy, but things started happening for the good. I was given amazing, professional resources that would take me right by my hand, and help me to squeeze those lemons, one at a time, and starting to overcome, and work through a lot of things that I was never willing to face before.
It is absolutely okay to ask for the needed help and support if you are not sure how to handle those moments and situations on your own. How would you know if you never dealt with it before, or haven’t had anyone telling you about it before? You would not believe how many people have been through very similar situations. God provided me the resources that allow me to see the brokenness, but see it as a BEAUTIFULLY BROKEN.
So let me ask you this: Where is your encouragement coming from? Who is giving you the needed support during those times in order to get through it? As we talked about before, where are you finding your needed inspiration? The world is a fallen place, and it will bring you very hurtful, painful, moments. So start training to prepare yourself how to deal with them from here on forth.
What’s the Sweet Lemonade Then…
I love listening to some of those motivational speeches several coaches have given. They are so raw, and so real. They mention the hardness life can bring. Some of us were unfortunate to be born into it. Tough and rough families, crazy backgrounds. intense past, etc. Others were brought into it with one moment, one decision. But the amazing thing they say is, it is up to us to decide whether we want to stay in it, or get up and do better. Whether we want to get out of it or not. But it takes you, making a choice, a decision, and then do whatever you have to do, in order to get out, and get away from that place. They talk about the growth through those challenges, and how often you will be alone, because a lot of people are not willing to step out of the comfort zone. But that’s why they also are not taking any steps to get to the top either.
It’s not easy to get out of the comfort zone, if that’s what you’ve been in for a while. But there is no growth in the comfort zone. What is it you need to do, to get out of that comfort zone? Look around you at this point in time… the most inspirational people are people that had some very tough times in their life. Those are people that took those lemons that were thrown at them, and squeezed them for a very sweet lemonade. They were used for the good.
Switch the Focus
Our tendency in the tough moments of life is to focus just on the pain, and the negative of that moment. And sometimes we need to do that for a little while in order to grief, and deal with it. In order to overcome it. But what is important is to not keep the focus on it forever. We have to get back up at some point, and one way to do that is to expand our focus on other things around us that we are grateful for. When you face rough times, try to look at them as growth opportunities. Express what you feel, release it all, and then find a good way that works for you to process what you feel.
When you are facing very hard challenges, keep in mind to face or tackle them, one small step at a time. And embrace every step you take, and accomplish. Because remember, that small step results in big changes and accomplishments.
Now it’s Up to You to Work with the Lemons
Okay, I think I will end this week with this: During this week, I want you to be absolutely honest with yourself, as you experience every day. When you have a moment that upsets or discomforts you, think about that moment. Spend a little bit of time on it. Tell yourself how you feel about it. Ask and try to answer to yourself what makes you feel that way about it. Take a little moment to feel it all out. Then take some time to see something good in it. See something positive in it. It won’t always be easy, and there might be moments where you won’t see something good in it right away… and that’s okay too. If you have to take a thought break for a while before you see it, that’s completely okay.
I hope that now when you see lemons in the store it’ll put a smile on your face like it does on mine, just because of that saying 😊. I hope you’ll have a really good coming week, and don’t forget, you got this!
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