When Life Gives You Lemons…This is What I’ve Learned
I once had a friend that always said, when life gives you lemons sucks for you. It wasn’t until now that I realized it’s kind of negative but it is also a bit true. Because, yeah, when life throws you lemons (when things are difficult) that sucks.
But that also doesn’t mean that you can’t make something good out of it.
When you think about that phrase, you usually think of the phrase, “When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.” I think we all understand what it means, but what does it mean to actually apply it to your life? And that’s what I’m going to try and come into today.
when life Throws you lemons…what do you do?
Recently, I ended up getting hurt from something that I couldn’t necessarily control, but I had the option to step away and I didn’t until later. Honestly, I’m not mad at myself for taking longer to step away from it because there was a lesson for me to learn. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. Life gives you lessons all the time. In fact, I would go as far as saying everything that we experience is a lesson somehow.
You may be trying to move on from something or making the decisions that you need to. You may be happier after that decision. You may be finding a new journey in life, but that doesn’t mean you won’t also be experiencing pain.
This morning, I had something remind me of the pain I was in. It was really difficult for me, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not grateful for what I’ve learned and for the decision that I’ve made to step away. I have been the most mentally stable and happiest I have been in years since taking the decision to put myself first. I will no longer apologize for my boundaries and the person that I am. I am healing, but that doesn’t mean that decision wasn’t painful. That doesn’t mean that the things that led up to that decision weren’t painful. That doesn’t mean that I don’t still experience pain from it.
Being happy does not mean that you are always happy. I’ve been dealing with my everyday personal struggles. Everyone does. But when we think of what it is like to be feeling good, we think that means feeling good all the time. That’s not true.
Life throws you lemons every day, even if they’re only small ones.
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In difficult situations, there’s always something that can be learned. I’m not saying that the situation is good, but I am saying that it’s always worth it to try and find the positives, even if it’s difficult.
The situation could be terrible, it could suck, it could be absolutely awful. But I do think that there’s always something we can be grateful for, even if it’s as simple as, well, at least I’m alive. That is what I’ve learned from the last few years.
I am not grateful for the pain. I am not grateful for the medical issues. I am not grateful for the way that people treated me. I am not grateful that my personal boundaries were disregarded.
But I am grateful for the lessons that came out of it.
When life gave me lemons, I learned who the people I wanted in my life were. I learned my values. I learned my boundaries. I learned how to stand up for myself. I learned to take risks. I learned to follow my dreams. And I learned to love the person I am.
how have I made lemonade?
I am shocked every single day because I didn’t know that some painful decisions could also be celebrated. In fact, the decisions to grow, to learn, and to put yourself first should be celebrated.
That’s what I mean by asking, “How am I using the phrase when life throws you lemons?” In my own life, I learned so much as a person. And I’m always going to be grateful for it. But that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t painful. That doesn’t mean that it isn’t still painful.
But life gave me lemons. And I’m going to celebrate.
Because these lemons (or difficult decisions) opened new doors for me in life that I didn’t know were possible. It’s okay to feel sad. It’s okay to feel burnt out, lost, confused in every emotion in between. And it’s also okay to celebrate the challenges in your life. Because below all the struggles, there’s probably a lesson that can be learned if you choose it.
So when life gives you lemons, what do you do?