Lemonade..

 

When I was around ten I came across Ben Carson’s ‘gifted hands’ and it changed my life. I do not remember what the book was about but there was one lesson I got. When this successful, black surgeon in a white dominated field was growing up, he was bullied a lot. That is according to his narration. I cannot remember where the wisdom or motivation came from but he started fighting back the bullies. If they said something mean, instead of him sulking, he would say something back and as a result the bullies backed off.

I did not have any bullies in my life then but I realized that bullies did not have to be people. That realization by ten year old me changed everything. I got a new perspective in life. Any difficult situation I would label as a bully and instead of feeling sorry for myself, I faced it head on. I took the proverbial lemon to lemonade and ran with it. I started to see the positive in everything. If I failed in my exams, it was not failure per se but a chance for others to win. I would be happy when someone beat me in class because it opened my eyes to the areas I needed improvement and it also meant that now there was competition.

It turns out that the lemonade lesson wasn’t just academic, it applied to all areas of life. Failure, rejection, loss never had their sting anymore because to me it was either a chance for better or being saved from something awful.  This has taught me to rejoice in all circumstances like the Bible teaches. I am happy when I win and happy when I lose. My happiness is not pegged on an outcome but on the knowledge that there is a God in heaven who wouldn’t hold back something good from me. If it doesn’t go my way, I will rejoice because then it will go His way and His way is always better.

So stop worrying and letting life put you down, take those lemons and make lemonade. It tastes better, I promise.