Love That Lemonade...

The idea of making lemonade from lemons has surfaced from numerous sources this week.

There was of course the bitterly severe weather and the challenges it posed.  But then there was also the spirit of community and brotherly love it fostered when teams of people pulled together to shovel driveways and push cars and when families cooked at home and spent time with each other indoors. 

Angela and me shoveling after the blizzard...

My homemade seafood gumbo...

There are often lemons in the challenges we face together and individually in our life circumstance that can make us feel less than fortunate.  What ALWAYS follows that particular circumstance will be whatever WE MAKE of that situation.  I was clearly reminded of that truth watching Jennifer Hudson win The People’s Choice Award for Favorite Humanitarian. 

click here for Jennifer Hudson article - "Jennifer Hudson Breaks Down In Tears Accepting Humanitarian Award For Charity Established After Family Tragedy"

As we all search to find our way and try to make sense out of so many different challenging circumstances, I’m reminded…

Perspective is everything.  We can move from “Damn it!  I only ever win a dollar on these lottery tickets!” to “Hey!  I won something!” with a little bit of gratitude.  Even in severe circumstances, we can create something beautiful from what might initially seem hopeless. 

Isn’t it amazing how we can take ANY given circumstance and choose to make something wonderful from it?  Our RESPONSE is what holds the key.  We can respond to anything with love, kindness and understanding.  We can certainly choose gratitude as a state of mind –and from THAT can grow the most precious and powerful inspirations. 

Artwork that hangs in Angela's room...

I’ll drink to that!  LOVE that lemonade! 

From the photo shoot I just had in my kitchen with four lemons, water, ice and a tall glass...

Inspirational selection from Ella Wheeler Wilcox:

“Not long ago there was a great trotting-race at Brighton Beach.  The blind conqueror “Rhythmic” won five consecutive races.

Think of it!  He did not, like a mortal man, shrink back and say “I am blind –that is a terrible destiny –I am cursed by God –I will not try to win the race.”  He just trusted the hand of the Master at the reins, did his best, and won the honors of the season.

We are all blind racers at the track of earth.  The king, the millionaire, the statesman, the lawmaker, the beggar, the laborer, the cripple, we are all in the dark.  The only thing is to trust the hand of the Master, and do our best.

Believe your position is the right starting point for you, merely the starting point.

It is the shapeless block of stone from which you are to fashion the perfect statue.

Or it is the mere mud from which you are to mold the clay image, and later that is to be put into enduring marble.

What is uglier or more unattractive than mud?

Yet think of the glorious conceptions which it imprisons.

Take the mud of your present environment and thank God for it, and make the image of the future you desire.

You can do it –you must do it –you will do it.”

 –Ella Wheeler Wilcox, “The Heart of New Thought” (1903)