When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade? How about I rock them on an obnoxious bodysuit, throw some in a bowl for decoration, and maybe even share a few…
Anyone else feel like everything hits at once, or you can’t catch a break? I’m there. The past few weeks have brought several challenges and struggles and I feel like life is tossing lemons at me. All while being very pregnant. Two days after returning home from our babymoon, we noticed our basement carpet was wet. One of the HVAC units had frozen and thawed and dumped a massive amount of water into our basement. After the restoration team assessed the damage my husband calls me and says, “Do you want the good news, or the bad news first?” Umm just tell me. “Good news is you get to redecorate a whole new basement! Bad news is, it’s way worse than we thought, and they are calling it a category three.” I’m not super familiar with water damage and restoration categorization, like at all, but this sounds like we need to move and warn the neighbors. Maybe notify the city? Next lemon is my oven. My housekeeper calls and tells me my oven is off but really hot. That’s bizarre considering I haven’t baked in days. We turned off the breaker so that my 500-degree oven would chill out, and called the manufacturer. After two different repair technicians from two different companies assessed the situation, we finally realized the relay was stuck on the microcomputer which was allowing the baking element to stay on…why didn’t I think of that? And then we realize they don’t make replacement parts for my 17-year-old oven. Awesome. They also informed me that the two ovens they manufacture that will fit into our wall space (and match our other appliances) to replace our current oven, are out of stock with no information as to when they will become available again. Another lemon lately is illness. And for once it’s not Sayla, but Pax, who has been to the pediatrician for four weeks in a row now.
So here’s how I’m dealing. First of all, I have to realize that all of these situations are out of my control. There is no one to blame, and no one is at fault. Life happens, and how I choose to react to these lemons are what I can control. Yes, it is frustrating. Yes, it is stressful. Yes, it adds to my “to do list.” But I am choosing JOY in the midst of these trials. Joy is the assurance that a higher power is in control. And even though hardships will happen, there is a peace in knowing that everything will be alright because it all happens for a reason. God doesn’t promise answers or explanations, but He does promise joy. So watch me rock this lemon bodysuit with a massive baby bump because it brings me joy. It also makes my husband sing Gucci Mane’s “Lemonade”: “I love dem Georgia-peaches, but you look more like a lemon.” I try and focus on things that are positive happenings in my life to find my joy. Some current “happies” include baby Pepper being healthy and staying where s/he belongs for now, and I was gifted an amazing maternity photo shoot by one of the most sought out after photographers in Lexington, which I cannot wait to share.
The second way I’m dealing is by throwing those lemons in a bowl and decorating…or redecorating in my case. As I have mentioned before, I am in an interior design certification program, and this new basement reno is a perfect way to apply my newly learned skills. The foundation for décor and design is having a plan. I think the best way to deal with unforeseen trials, is to formulate a plan of action. This will help ease the anxiety of the unknown and bring relief with a sense of regaining control of the situation. We can only control our actions and reactions when the lemons start raining down.
Lastly, I’ve decided to share some of my lemons…you want a lemon? No? Ok, how about you? You want this lemon? Get some help!
This is probably the hardest part for me when faced with struggles. Asking for help and delegating tasks. Partly because I don’t want to inconvenience anyone, and to be honest, it’s partly because I don’t want other people to think I cannot “handle” my biz. So I have to swallow my pride and let others help. My biggest helpmate in this crazy life is my best friend, my husband. He is constantly asking me what he can do to help, and I would be lost without him. Accepting help no matter how big or small is crucial. I asked a friend for help by soliciting her advice on my tile selection for our basement bathroom, and I asked another friend for new crock pot recipes since I have no oven. My mother in law offered to help do research on finding a double wall oven that would fit in our kitchen with the correct dimensions, and my parents are coming to visit this week and you best believe I have a list of things for my father to fix (he loves it), and my mother will cook and help disinfect the contaminated toys from illness (if you’re reading this mom, I am planning on asking you to help me with this please).
I am by no means an expert at this thing called life. That is not what this post is about…nor do I want to come across as complaining. I’m just being real. It’s my current situation and I am hoping it brings some sort of comfort to you by revealing that you’re not alone in your trials, and maybe give you some ideas on how to cope with those lemons. What is your current lemon? Leave me a comment and tell me how you deal. You never know how it could help someone else reading this!
