Photo by Pikimota via Creative Commons

In her first guest post, Fabulous and Flawed introduced us to her experience of being twentysomething and divorced. Today read a beautiful follow up about the real beauty of the lemons in our life.

How many times have you heard it said “when life gives you lemons make lemonade”? First of all, who WANTS to make a refreshing summertime beverage out of the darkest, most sour and painful times in our lives? The only true connection I see here is to choke down the bitter, mouth-blistering ale that life handed you with all the strength you can muster up. The so called lemons we are handed are not sweet, like the childhood treat we all remember. In order to be good (or at least tolerable) lemonade needs sugar or some sort of sweetener, right? So, where does that leave the lemons?

A Look Inside a Lemon

Have you cut open a lemon lately? They are beautiful: the color, the shape, the smell. Honestly, this thought came to me the other day as I had halved a lemon to put in drinking water. The remaining half was sitting on my desk at work and the beauty stunned me to the point of taking a picture. It made me think…there is beauty in lemons. So, if the age old adage is debunked (and for arguments sake let’s just say that it is). Could you accept the idea that there is beauty in a lemon? That the hard times life offers actually have beauty lined in them. That even in the bitterness and pain from being shot in the eye with acidic juice, it is still beautiful.

The Real Beauty of a Lemon

I know that I never, ever imagined being where I am today. Someone once told me that if God gave me a glimpse of where my life would be in five years, like I often pray for, that I would be completely terrified not knowing the process of how I got there. Never have I felt that to be truer. Life changes, people change and it hurts. There is still beauty. You just have to be open to seeing it.

I am happier today than I ever imagined. Please do not misunderstand, I was not unhappy before. But when you open yourself up to seeing the beauty in lemons you can come out happier, more complete, and whole. With a greater understanding of yourself and who you where created to be. I hear people say that today is the oldest I have ever been and the youngest I will ever be. Well, I hope today is the most happy I have ever been and the least happy I will ever be. Growing and life is a process. Enjoy the ride and find the beauty.

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What are the lemons in your life? Can you find the beauty there?