Lemons and Lemonade

Life is full of contrasts.

As we move through our personal life experiences, I think that many of us get caught up in the ones that are like lemons - sour, distasteful and unpleasant on our pallets.

Personally, I have always thought of myself as a survivor. It would seem that the experiences that I find the most distasteful in my life are also the ones that bring out some of my best qualities. During a troubled childhood, I found that I was independent and strong. During financial hardships, I found that I was resourceful and driven by the love for my family. Yet, still, my preference would be to avoid this part of life's challenges.  How about you?

I look back to the earlier part of my life and I see that I often comforted myself with the thought that everything happens for a reason. Somewhere along the line, probably about mid-life, I changed my thinking.  I saw that the reason everything looked like it happened for a reason could also be explained by the fact that everytime I was served lemons, I worked very hard at finding the ingredients to make a tasety lemonade.

Today, I probably have a more blended view.  I believe that I buy the lemons so that I can make the lemonade - my life being my creation.

So as I make up my shopping list for tomorrow, I think I'm going to leave out the lemons (for at least awhile) and stick to something that appeals to my pallet more.  Maybe this time I'll pick something like apples for an apple pie.