When Life Gives You Lemons, Use the Seeds!
Updated: Nov 19, 2022
When reading the book And There Was Light By Jacques Lusseyran there was an interesting beauty surrounding the book.
It is a story of a blind French hero who started the French Resistance in World War II. In his childhood he went blind, and he shared how he saw the world changed. Lusseryan shared that when he touched a tree, he could feel all of it, the branches and even the space between the branches made up the tree’s existence.
This thought has been in my heart and today I found something that resonated with this concept of both the branches and the space between them both make the entirety of the whole. This connection was found in BJ Miller’s TED Talk, What re
ally matters at the end of life. Here is a quote from it:
“...Until one realizes how much of our so-called mental life is about the lives we are not living, the lives we are missing out on, the lives we could be leading but for some reason are not…
“We have to be aware of what is missing in our lives — even if this often obscures both what we already have and what is actually available —
“...that our needs, like our wishes, are always potentially unmet
“…But we also learn to live somewhere between the lives we have and the lives we would like.”
-Adam Philips- (Italics added for emphasis)
The lives we have and the lives we wish we had.
Recognizing that much of what you want may never be fulfilled can be entirely depressing at times. The expectation versus reality can make life seem unfair at times, this unfairness can lead to many habits such as escape, rudeness, crass or immature behavior, etc.
Since hearing this TED talk and reading And There Was Light, I have strove to create a sanctuary inside of myself with an adventurers mindset. I have also sought to remove the need to escape from my life in various ways such as social media, tantrum-ing, or even refusing to get out of bed because of the “what’s the point” mentality.
The challenge is to:
Walk up to one’s entire self as it is in this very moment.
Embrace one's self, unconditionally, and to love life exactly where it is at – in all of its flaws.
Love life's potential for growth
Envision and dream of what is possible for life and then to work to make it happen with faith and humility – co-creating with God himself. Potential and possibility are the spaces between the branches.
What Lusseyran and Miller are saying is to find where you can grow and to understand that the branches don’t stop growing. What does this mean? This means there is space for you to choose what you will become. There is space to make your potential realized. There are possibilities all around you, you can grow and expand into the space that is already yours to claim.
Just like a tree, you have a specific design that makes you, you! Like a seed, everything is waiting to unfold in its own and individually beautiful design.
So when life gives you lemons, use the seeds and grow your own life that is full and vibrant.
Your life is yours to create. You have a unique and individual design that is timelessly and breath-takingly beautiful. You are the branches and the space between them. All is possible when it comes to what you choose for your life. If you want to create this for yourself, I help women lead and design their lives with confidence, set up a time today to talk with me and help you achieve your possible today.
What is one thing you what to see happen in your life? Share in the comments below
Article Written By: Kaitlyn Andrews, an International Life Coach for Women
