People think I can be unrealistic or too optimistic.

I think I’m being practical.

I can’t say I have NO regrets, but I’m close.

Because it doesn’t make sense to me to NOT learn from my mistakes.

When a lemon rolls into my life, I’ve learned how to squeeze out the juice, add sugar and make it into lemonade.

Here are 9 ways I’ve made lemonade out of lemons.

🍋 Not listening to the voices in my head that were telling me what I wanted and speaking up about it, like becoming a singer. I didn’t grow up very in tune with this (pun intended).

🥤Now I realize we’re not taught to listen to what we want and not always supported to pursue it. It’s ok for me to want what I want. I never have to do anything about it. I just want to be in tune with it (again, pun intended). The reason we are here is it to follow what’s calling us.

🍋 Not mending my relationship with my mom earlier.

🥤It was MY work to do and I didn’t realize that until late in life. The good news is that I can mend any relationship at any time. It’s not the other person’s job.

🍋Not realizing that failure is a good thing. (Now, if only this was taught in school!)

🥤Now I realize that success doesn’t come without lots of trial and error. And, failing can be fun!

🍋Not realizing that money flows. I’m fortunate that I’ve always loved money, but it didn’t always love me. I used to worry SO much about money (and still do sometimes).

🥤Now I see that what comes in goes out and vice versa. When I think, “Money is like the current in a river,” I feel at peace and relaxed. Sometimes it rushes in and sometimes it’s a trickle. Either way, it’s always flowing, and I have some agency over the speed and velocity of its flow with the decisions I make.

🍋Indulging in my own frustration when I had a different idea of what we should be doing at work. Coming from a Communist era family, I was taught that it was much safer to be quiet than to be seen.

🥤Now when I’m working with teams, I speak up with discernment when I think we can explore different ways to handle a situation. My speaking up always adds value.

🍋Hanging on to a relationship too long.

🥤I learned that letting someone go, doesn’t mean you don’t love them. As a matter of fact, letting them go may be the biggest expression of love for them and for yourself.

🍋 Spinning out about other people’s words to me about me. When someone said, “You can’t do that! You’ll ruin your reputation,” or “lose your friends,” or “lose money,” I would take it so seriously.

🥤Now I know we are all judging ourselves, we are judging other people and judging the situations around us. 24/7! I can listen to those judge-y thoughts and soften them for myself. And, I can recognize that other people’s perspectives come from their experiences.

🍋Thinking I don’t have time for … (insert anything!)

🥤We all have the same amount of time for the things we choose to do in life. Whether we realize it or not, it’s the absolute truth.

🍋Thinking, “I’m not good enough.”

🥤Hello! Everyone thinks this! My job (and all of our jobs) is to learn how to soften these voices in our heads. I do the best I can now to recognize the thought and do the thing anyway!

It seems so simple when I write them down now, but these were not easy lemons-to-lemonade reframes.

🍋 Some of these took years to get from a lemon to cut-the-lemon to squeeze-the-lemon to add-sugar-to-the-lemon-juice to full-on-lemonade.

I added sugar little by little, teaspoon by teaspoon, 🥄 until someday I had lemonade. 🥤

Can you relate? When have you made lemons into lemonade?

If you'd like to learn more about how I can help you make lemonade out of lemons, book a free consultation call with me.