Thursday with Naqvi--Life Lemons Part Two

Let's face it:  life gives you lemons.  Sometimes you are given big ones or lots of them all at once.  This week, I was given the unexpected hassle of ct scans.  This leads to worry and waiting for the results in connection with aches and pains that have no explanation, but always lead my mind back to the big one--CANCER?!?   Whether it's little, sour notes in the background or large quantities of stinging lemon juice in the eye, there are ways to get by: put the lemons to use, find ways to turn them sweet, or to learn to get used to the sour and not let it consume you.  

Let's say life has handed you a lemon or two....or five thousand.  When you carry those lemons around, holding them right up to your face to get a good look at them, all you see in your life is lemons.  You can't see any of the blessings you've also been given, any of the blessings and gifts the Savior also provides, or any of the sweetness of life.  You block out the how you've been strengthened while carrying those lemons, the humility you've developed, or the tender mercies that surely come through times of trial.  If you start simply letting your lemons live in your fruit bowl, out of your immediate view, your perspective shifts.  There is so much more to life than the lemons!

Enduring and overcoming trials is one of the most difficult aspects to this mortal experience.  I don't just think life gives you lemons.  I think life IS lemons, and we are tested to see how we will respond to the sourness.  Will we look for sweetness to make the experience easier to bear?  Will we find other uses for the lemons that can benefit our lives?  Will we realize that sometimes a little lemon juice is just what we needed? Will we help others, teaching them from our own experiences with lemons? Or, will the sour turn our hearts away from the sweet? 

Life gave me a little lemon this week, but I was given sweet surprises, too!  Learning to recognize the sweet is what helps us endure and overcome.  {This drink was SO much better than the awful, banana "shake!"}

I am still learning how to take in all of life's lemons with gratitude.  There are countless ways to stay positive in hard times, but the best one I know is to learn to come unto the Lord.  Sometimes, you just don't want lemons.  Not at all.  But, what we want isn't what we always get, and our Savior is the only one who can understand.  Come unto Him, and I promise your lemons will not seem as sour, as heavy, or as hard.  He knows. 

It's great when the lemons in our life can be put to good use, but sometimes we have to just carry them around.  We might have some sugar and water to make lemonade, but if not......there are ways to keep on going and to carry on.  If trials are removed, what a blessing that is!  But, if not.....things will still work out.  They worked out a little for me today, as my results showed that I do not have cancer.  I still have to consult some other doctors to see what else could be causing some pain, and I just have to live with some pains associated with my surgeries and scar tissue.  I'm at least grateful to hear that my big lemon is still in the past!

 

Life IS lemons.  Sour notes are all around, but we can find lightness, brightness, usefulness, and sweetness in the mix.  When Life is lemons, the Savior is the "aid."