Lemon pie

“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade” – I love this quote! You know what you have and you know what to do, even if it tastes bitter. Despite the bittersweet taste which a glass of lemonade can leave in your mouth for a while, it’s healthy and quite refreshing. After all, we all need a little bit of change and refreshment from time to time.

Sometimes, however, life seems to be more “generous” than ever and gladly offers us not just a few lemons, for a glass or two of lemonade, but a big basket full of lemons. The idea, then of drinking lemonade day after day, for an indefinite period of time, gets bitterer and bitterer. You can’t throw the lemons out and you can’t offer them to anybody else.

That’s the moment when one of my favourite questions come – “What to do when I don’t know what to do?” e.g. with that big basket of lemons. And the more you concentrate your entire attention on the big basket, the more desperate you get. The good thing is that for every favourite question of mine, I’ve got a favourite answer – “You know more than you think you do” – Benjamin Spock.

As long as you are fully concentrated on that big bitterness that has taken place in your life, you will be less capable of seeing any other options and possibilities that might be in present for you. Get in touch with yourself and use your imagination – the answer could be closer than you expect. It’s obvious that you can’t drink lemonade 24/7, even if it is healthy and refreshing.

You need more and you will have it – you only have to identify what you need and what else, apart from the big basket of lemons, you’ve got. Look in the cupboards and the fridge, especially the deep freezer – they might be full of any other ingredients. You will be surprised to find how many other things you can make with those lemons of yours.

What about a lemon pie? If you don’t have all the needed ingredients, you can add them. If you don’t know how to make a lemon pie, you can learn. Do not be afraid to repeat the exercise as many times as needed until you make the perfect pie – you’ve got plenty of lemons in your basket after all. You may even improve the recipe if you want to.

If you don’t feel like making a lemon pie, then find another lemon recipe – just keep on doing something, instead of blaming life for that generous gift. At the end of the lemon story you will have added a lot of new ingredients and recipes to your life, but above all, you will have a clear idea of what you really need; and I bet the lemons will not be a part of that list for quite some time.