Making Lemonade
Are you familiar with the saying, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade?” I’m not usually good with remembering sayings so I always mess them up, but this one is easy for me. I like lemonade. I also have hope and know that, in time, these sour lemons (bad things) can potentially turn into something really sweet like lemonade (good things). Either way, I want to share this lemonade-making moment that is currently happening in our lives.
Let’s face it…sometimes bad things happen. Depending upon the severity, I firmly believe that my reaction after a “sour lemon” moment can determine if I make lemonade or not. Before anything else can happen, I need an opportunity to process my emotions. And this can look like anything but mine happens to be a range of: crying, journaling, seeking counseling, praying, or solitude, etc. My first choice is usually prayer. I feel so much relief that I can pray and lift that burden off my shoulders and give to someone who loves me dearly!
After this process (which can take any amount of time…patience is key here), then I start to dream up ideas, what-if’s, solutions, etc. I really like the word pivoting. The definition from Webster is: an adjustment or modification made (as to a product, service, or strategy) in order to adapt or improve. I absolutely love the process of improving things – efficiency is usually at the core of most of my ideas. Work smarter, not harder!
The next step is a lot of reflection and number crunching in a way. I really like to dig in deep to these new ideas to see if I should implement them into my life. I’m definitely a ‘big idea’ person so I have to be a pros and cons list maker or else I will succumb to all of my big ideas and drown. If you suffer from ‘big idea’ syndrome then you will understand!
So, now that I shared my process, are you ready to hear the bad thing/good thing news?
My husband Steve lost his job this past week. Ouch. Major basket of sour lemons just served!
But! This is bittersweet and let me explain why.
Four years ago, Steve had a dream of starting a family business on our small piece of land. The goal was for me to start it from the ground (pun intended haha) and in time, he would come home to join us. Well, is there ever a good time to leave a job with reliable income, benefits, and steady hours? After 3 official years since opening our family farm business, we realized that to get him “home” is a scary step. Could we really ever be confident and courageous enough to take that step?
So, he’s been pushed out the door and here we are faced with the biggest pile of lemons we’ve ever seen and the world’s largest empty pitcher. What do we do next?
We are jumping all-in to take advantage of this open door to making our dream a reality! The bundle of raw emotions is no joke...fear, excitement, hope, fear, and yup, more fear. I’d like to say that we are taking it one step at a time but that can’t be the case here. We are taking 4 steps at a time to make this work!
Even though we feel a bit vulnerable, we want to share this journey with you in case it helps you in any way. Interestingly, I’m not a huge fan of the whole New Years resolution scheme but I do like to pick a word that ties into my overall goals in life. I find that it helps me in keeping true to living intentionally. My word for the year is vulnerability. And here we are.
Stay tuned as I update the new blog with our journey. And please comment/email and share your thoughts with us as we pour our hearts into this vulnerability. We truly appreciate you.
