We’ve all heard the saying: “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”
And honestly? Every time I hear it, I cringe a little. Maybe it’s because it’s been overused for generations, worn down into a cliché. Or maybe — confession — I just don’t like lemonade, but a good old limoncello, anytime.
These days, people often add a sarcastic spin to the phrase: throw the lemons back, grab tequila and salt (which, by the way, calls for limes), or squeeze them into someone’s eyes. And hey, I’m all for people using whatever sayings or humour they need to lift their spirits or shift their mindset. But I’ve come to believe the lemons themselves have a deeper purpose, beyond just being turned into something sweeter.
I’ve faced plenty of lemons in my own life — probably enough to fill a whole tree. In the past, when life handed me one, I’d instinctively squeeze it into water, toss in some sugar, and tell myself I was “making lemonade.” But here’s what I’ve realized over time: when we rush to squeeze the lemons, we leave behind big parts of them. When we dilute their juice with water, we dilute their natural essence. When we pour in sugar, we’re trying to force something sharp and sour into something it was never meant to be.
In other words, we’re not facing the lemon at all — we’re disguising it. We’re turning it into something smaller, something softer, something easier to swallow.
Making lemonade seems like a harmless, even positive act. But maybe the lemon was never the problem in the first place. Think about it: it’s a small fruit, no bigger than a baseball. Have you ever just eaten a lemon by itself — no sugar, no salt? It’s shockingly sour, sure, and it makes your face scrunch up and your tongue tingle. And yet, we laugh when little kids try lemons for the first time; we search online for videos of their adorable reactions.
What if, instead of automatically trying to transform every lemon life hands us, we just… experienced it?
Sure, we’d probably make some funny, cringey faces. But really, what’s the worst that could happen?
Here’s the thing: that sourness? It fades. Over time, you get used to it. Lemons — just like life’s challenges — are an acquired taste. You don’t have to devour the whole fruit in one bite (and please, don’t try — you might choke). But you also can’t ignore it forever (it’ll eventually rot).
The point is, we can handle lemons one slice at a time.
When we view challenges as too big to tackle, we miss the chance to break them down and work through them piece by piece. And when we rush to sugarcoat or water down hard experiences, we risk missing the lesson, the growth, the raw reality of it all.
Let’s be real: sometimes life is messy. Sometimes it just flat-out sucks. And sometimes, it’s perfectly okay to sit with that, to acknowledge it without dressing it up or covering it over.
It’s okay to say, “This sucks. I hate today.” Because in those moments, no amount of “just make lemonade” is going to bring real comfort.
But here’s the good news:
Hard moments don’t last forever.
Neither do your lemons.
So next time life hands you a lemon (or two, or five), remember: it’s perfectly fine just to eat the lemons — slowly, one bite at a time — until they’re gone. Remind yourself, “I’m not going to water this down. I’m not going to sugarcoat it. And this will not last forever.”
You are bigger than your lemons. Even if it takes you time to work through them, eventually they’ll be gone, and you’ll remember not just the sourness but the fact that you got through it.
Oh, and one last piece of advice?
When you eat the lemon… maybe skip the peel.