As the saying goes, “When life gives you lemons. . .” But what about the moments when you are doing your best to run the straight and narrow and WHAP, someone chucks a lemon and it hits you in the back of the head? It’s not always easy to make lemonade from something that is perceived to be an assault weapon. Herein lies the challenge: don’t settle for making lemonade. By the time you squeeze the livin’ daylights out of it, hoping there is enough juice to make something worthwhile, and then add LOADS of sugar, you just lied to yourself about just happened.

According to the Starbucks Corporation Fiscal 2013 Annual Report, “consolidated revenues reached a record $14.9 billion.” We’re addicted. Before the “mine and yours” of finances became “ours,” I was on a first name basis with the Baristas at the ‘Bucks. Our bank account smiles a bit wider with a fresh pot of coffee each morning and an occasional latte. There are few things I crave as much as I used to crave a Skinny Vanilla Latte on a crisp autumn morning. A cold diet lemonade from Chick-Fil-A however, is hard to brush off, once it’s on the brain . . . especially when it’s been one of those days.

Out of nowhere, I was hit pretty hard with an AWOL lemon this morning. My immediate internal response was to get worked up. A voice in from my past was echoing back, “Choose your attitude.” Escaping Cube Farm, USA for lunch, I made a quick pit stop at the Chick-Fil-A across the street for a glass of lemonade. The day was already looking up.

A few miles down the road, is a picturesque open space. Seated in the middle of Creation, near a quiet creek, I looked up to the trees that towered around me. Those trees didn’t stand so tall because they broke under the weight of torrential downpours or withered under the scorching summer heat. Their branches reach the highest heights because they are deeply rooted and have continued to grow in the midst of many storms.

With my delicious drink in hand and so much beauty surrounding me, I decided to let the lemon drop. I’m not going to try to understand, sift through, resolve or even confront what I perceive to be an issue in an attempt to make sweet lemonade. Instead, I’m going to let the lemon rot and allow my tree to absorb the nutrients to grow that much stronger. Picking up my phone, I placed a call that will hopefully keep me growing in my career path.

If we allow the sting of the lemons in life to distract us from moving forward, we are making repeated mistakes that could hold us back from experiencing the better things in life. With the weekend in clear view, I say that it’s time to let the lemons rot, get out into Creation, and maybe even put on our big girl shoes in preparation of doing some hard things next week!