When life gives you lemons...

With having a chronic medical condition, one of the most common questions I get asked is: "what do you do?" When I briefly explain I have health challenges which limit my activities, people always assume I need ideas for things to do. You should volunteer for (fill in your favorite organization here); you know Walmart hires disabled people; you should work from home for an online company; you should take some online courses...the list goes on and on.

I always am a bit amused by people's suggestions. I try to politely explain I have very little energy--my life is a bunch of lemons. People try to encourage me that I need to make lemonade. I then try to be kind and point out lemonade requires lemons AND water AND sugar. I have only lemons. I try to do what I can with what I have.

I figure I have two options with my life of lemons. Option one: I can deny my health challenges and try to juggle the lemons--pretending to be well and trying to live a "normal" life. I have tried that option with little success. I often could juggle my symptoms for a bit, but it was very tiresome. Addionally, I always became a horrible mess when despite my hardest efforts, I would become very ill. Unable to continue juggling, the lemons would come crashing down on top of me. Option two: I can accept I have lemons and learn to live with them. Lemons are not always easy to enjoy, but with joy in my heart and love for the Lord, every day I learn to like lemons more and more.