Life’s Not About Lemonade:

Insight 76 | Work, Mission Focus, and Gratitude.

I wrote this poem some time ago, and I’ve held onto it as I have waited for a proper moment to use it. It speaks to a mindset of self-directed initiative, discipline, and gratitude. It goes like this:

I’d like to learn how to grow lemons

So I can harvest a garden full of them

Then give some back to life as a thank you

For all the lemons it gave me first.

The Lemons are metaphoric, of course, and their exact form might change from person to person; however, their meaning does not. They stand for opportunity, work, and the fruit of our calling.

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If you take a moment to read it a bit closer, you’ll realize the nuance hidden in these words. 

I’d like to learn how to grow lemons.

It starts by proclaiming the need to learn how to cultivate lemons, because, yes, sometimes we are the one who has to create our own opportunities and reach for our calling. Sure, some of this might naturally come our way, but those who never take a shot will probably miss the one they do, since they lack discipline, practice, and discernment. This takes initiative, creativity, and technique. If we never understand how to produce our own lemons, we will stay stuck at the mercy of others, tossed by the waves of this world and subject to their whims and fancies. If we ourselves are never willing to grow, adapt, and change, we can plant all we want, but we will never see a harvest. This is why it's so essential for all of us to discover how to administer what we have been given.

The poem continues: So I can harvest a garden full of them.

This sets a goal of not creating a bounty from what we already have. It is a cry of ambition and focus; two characteristics that are critical to pursuing our best selves and fulfilling the callings the Lord has placed on our lives. Much like the parable of the talents in which the hard master rewards the man who multiplied what he had been entrusted with, so should we remember that it is our job to increase in our gifts.

Much like a real garden, the greenhouse of our life takes time, patience, and discipline. A fruitful one requires proper cultivation, uprooting weeds, and making sure it's getting enough sunlight. 

In its third line, the poem shifts with its use of the word “Then.” : Then give some back to life as a thank you

This shifts our perspective from one of taking to one of giving, as living a good existence is one in which opportunities are not just made but shared and distributed. It's an act of gratitude and a reminder to say thank you to those who contribute to your learning, planting, and growing. Secondly, this is practical in generosity, as giving is not something that occurs spontaneously or comes naturally to most of us. It often requires effort and intention, but when we are grateful and generous, we will begin to see how many people are thankful and gracious towards us. It's like giving out lemons creates more lemons: a strange idea, but a timeless truth.

Lastly, the stanza ends with a reason. Why do any of this? … For all the lemons it gave me first.

Because someone had to provide you with the initial lemon, someone or something had to come and make your opening move, beginning your journey towards where you have always been trying to go. If it wasn't your family giving you a home or your friends supporting you, at least we can rest in the comfort that, at the very minimum, God was the first to give us breath. 

And do you know what that means? If we are alive today, reading these words right here, right now, then that's because He's not done with us yet. We still have more lemons to grow.

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Maybe life’s never been about making lemonade, but about striving to manage the lemons you were given at the start, trusting that what you create today can change someone else's tomorrow.

See, God gave you that fruit for a reason.

Suppose this is true; I am convinced it is. The question becomes whether we are willing to learn how to take the seeds of what we have, plant them, multiply them, reap them, share them, and engage in this process over and over again until one day we hear the beautiful words: Well done, my good and faithful servant.

Do you want to know you're on the proper path? Start by mastering how to produce lemons so that you can harvest a garden full of them. Then give some back to life as a thank you for all the lemons it gave you first. ;)

- Making The Most Of Being Curious

Daniel J. Cuesta

Sources:

“I’d like to learn how to grow lemons.”  The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. - Proverbs 4:7 

“So I can harvest a garden full of them.” Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. - Galatians 6:7-9

“Then give some back to life as a thank you.” One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered. - Proverbs 11:24-25

“For all the lemons it gave me first.” For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? - 1 Corinthians 4:7