How to make LEMONADE when life gives you nothing but TROUBLES! 😳

Dear Diary 

We've all heard it: "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!" and every time I hear this I used to think, "Really? How do I make lemonade with life's lemons?" You see, I am not a naturally optimistic person and positivity does not always come easy to me. So what is a person like me to do with an upbeat saying like this? 🤔

I've had my fair share of troubles in 2020 and maybe you did too and would love to know how to bounce back from it. I sure would. So, I recently pondered about lemonade. Life has sure been giving us a lot of lemons last year! 🍋 I even stopped blogging. 😩 I just had too many troubles and found myself constantly focusing on them. Focusing on my problems though is like sucking on lemons and anxiety happens when we suck lemons! We get nothing but a wrinkly sour looking face, when we should be making lemonade instead. So, how do I really make lemonade with the many troubles that life gives me? John 16:33 says that in this world we will have troubles which means that lemons will keep coming our way. But what about the other ingredients in lemonade? 

The second ingredient in lemonade is water 💧and it takes a lot of water to make lemonade, just like it sometimes takes a lot of time to heal or improve anything in our lives. Yes, time is the second ingredient to make "lemonade" out of our troubles and sometimes we need a lot of time (or patience) to see a real turnaround. We all know that now since 2020. Time is of the essence they say and yet time is what nobody seems to have anymore these days. But time ⏰ is what 2020 gave us. More time to spend at home and focus on our families. For some of us that has been a blessing, for others it might have been a challenge. Especially if there was a lack of income. So, water is a much-needed ingredient of lemonade and time is equally important when making lemonade in life. 

But lemon juice and water alone are still a pretty bitter drink and in a similar way, if I have nothing but troubles and a lot of time at hand to think...life can be pretty unbearable or unpalatable. So, how do I make 2021 make more palatable than 2020? 🤨 Let's go back to the ingredients of lemonade.

There is another ingredient in lemonade and on its own, it is almost too sweet, but it is a super important ingredient in lemonade! The third and last ingredient in lemonade is sugar. 🥄 Sugar is what sweetens the lemonade and makes it easier to drink. Sometimes I need a little more sugar, sometimes a little less, but without sugar, lemonade is a rather sour drink! So what might the sugar be in the greater scheme of life? My daughter helped me with that. She reminded me that we really still have a lot to be thankful for. 🙏🏼 Bingo! Gratitude is the last ingredient in the lemonade of life! Think about it...if I only focus on all the troubles (or lemons) then every day feels like a burden and it’s wearing me down. But if I allow some time to pass and in the meantime try to find something to be thankful for, then my days do become brighter and a lot more enjoyable! Yes, gratitude is a much-needed ingredient when making lemonade in a very difficult season of life!

Together, lemons, water and sugar make a lovely drink and perhaps what I need to get through 2021 now, is to allow time and a grateful heart to see me through it, no matter what troubles may still be ahead of us. Without gratitude, life can seem very bleak, but just a few minutes of "thankful thinking" each morning can make a huge difference in my day! I have to learn to put it into practice though. 😉 I need to stir it up each morning, just like I have to stir up the sugar in lemonade. If I don't stir the sugar in lemonade it tends to settle at the bottom of the glass and the lemonade still has a sour taste. So, I have made it a habit, when drinking lemonade, to stir the lemonade each time before I take a sip. That's what I ought to be doing with gratitude! It's not that I am not grateful for what I have and everyone I get to love in my life, but gratitude has a way of settling down at the bottom of my heart, especially when I am feeling down and out. That's when it needs to be stirred up again. Spending a few minutes each morning, thinking about what I can be happy about, certainly stirs up gratitude. 😃 I don't know about you, but I am very grateful this year for more quiet times! 

So, that’s what I’ve been thinking about this week and I hope in someway it helps you with your troubles this year. And perhaps it also inspired you to spend a few minutes today pondering over what you might be grateful for. 🤔 Troubles will keep coming and time will pass, but to make it all palatable we need to take heart and be thankful for all that we have! 👏🏻

I wish everyone a very REFRESHING week! 🍹😋

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. 

In this world you will have trouble. 

But take heart! I have overcome the world.” 

John 16:33 NIV

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(All photos in this post are my own.)