“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade” is a popular phrase used to encourage optimism and positivity. Lemons suggest sourness of life’s challenges and making lemonade out of lemons, is turning those difficult times into something positive and achievable.
Not many people will agree with that. When we become sour with life’s adversities we turn into a sourpuss. In the video game Portal 2 the character Cave Johnson, angry at the proverbial phrase quoted this:
“When life gives you lemons, don’t make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back! Get mad! I don’t want your damn lemons, what the hell am I supposed to do with these?”
Yikes. So much angst, but I understand. When you are going up shit creek, it is difficult to be philosophical and positive. However, we can learn how positive people turn their lemons into something sweeter.
In 1915, writer Elbert Hubbard wrote an obituary post (The King of Jesters) about actor Marshall Wilder’s optimism and achievements despite his dwarfism.
“He was walking refutation of that dogmatic statement, Mens sana in corpore sano. His was a sound mind in an unsound body. He proved the eternal paradox of things. He cashed in his disabilities. He picked up the lemons that Fate had sent him and started a lemonade-stand”
In those days, dwarfism was considered a disability and to be successful, was a great achievement. How time has changed. Nowadays we look up to those famous actors. Who hasn’t seen Game of Thrones?
In 1940, The Rotarian published a poem entitled The Optimist
“Life handed him a lemon,
As Life sometimes will do.
His friends looked on in pity,
Assuming he was through.
They came upon him later,
Reclining in the shade
In calm contentment, drinking
A glass of lemonade.”
It is true that life can be pathed with lemon trees. To be resilient against the adversities, we need to find the mental and physical resources that help us deal with those challenges. But how? Well, there are two options in life: abandon and live in misery or plough forward even if it kills you. We need to realise that we cannot overcome our troubles on our own. We need to reach out for help.
Or, you could do what I do: throw yourself on the floor, have a tantrum that a two-year old would be proud of, then get to the supermarket and pick some real unwaxed lemons and make something with them. I have three recipes that keep me going through rough time: lemon and ginger drink, for a morning boost, jam marmalade on my toast and lemon pickle when I feel under the weather.
Lemon juice in warm water is believed to melt belly fat and ginger has been used to treat a variety of cardiovascular conditions. Lemon juice increases our body’s metabolism and improves our immunity due to the presence of vitamin C in it. Without this antidote, I would be the size of a bus by now!
Lemon/Ginger Recipe:
Cut a 5 cm piece of ginger and 1 lemon in small pieces and add to 2 cups of water in a pan. Slowly bring to boil. Turn the heat off and let it steep for 10 to 15 mins. Strain the liquid and it is ready to drink hot or cold.
When I am in a pickle, I go for the spicy one:
Lemon Pickle Recipe:
Boil 5 lemons for 10 minutes until soft. Remove and cut in quarters. Add half a teaspoon of turmeric powder, 1 teaspoon each of salt, chilli powder, cumin seeds and crushed black pepper. Mix well. In a saucepan shallow fry half teaspoon of mustard seed and add to the mixture. Pickle will be ready in 3 days.
Lemon Marmalade Recipe:
Take 10 lemons, remove the peel and cut into 4 cms strips. Cut the rest of the lemons into quarters discarding seeds. In a saucepan, combine everything with 4 cups of water and simmer until soft. Add four cups of sugar, increase heat and let boil for another hour until set.
So, what are you going to do with your lemons?
Learning to Rediscover Yourself 