When Life Gives You... Choices

We all know the common saying, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." That sounds lovely, because I quite enjoy lemonade. But what if you don't want lemonade? What if you would prefer a homemade lemon curd or lemon bars? Or lemon sorbet? Perhaps something a bit more savory - pasta al limone, anyone?

My point is, we have to make decisions in life. Sometimes they are easy and require no extra cognitive energy. On the other hand, some decisions have the ability to change your life's trajectory. It's really scary, and I find it terribly overwhelming to the point of being crippling. The hardest decisions are the ones with many options to choose from, and I am beginning to realize that most decisions fall into this category.

Let me explain. For as long as I can remember, I have had binary thinking. By this, I mean that when I have been faced with a decision, I can either choose, "Yes, I will take this path," or "No, I will take the other path." I have tried to make sense of the world around me by pretending we live in a world of black and white; this or that; yes or no; right or wrong. The thing is, we live our lives in color. Even the smallest of propositions or opportunities can lead to a myriad of possible choices. And it's overwhelming.

It's overwhelming, because we try to make sense of a world that often is nonsensical. There is no making sense of some things, no matter how hard I try. Not every situation in life can be solved like an algebra equation. We cannot simply solve for 'x' to figure out the best route to choose. Much of life is a guessing game, is it not? With such guessing and interpreting and theorizing come these moments of choice.

Life gives you lemons. Okay, well, thanks life. I didn't really ask for the lemons, but now that I have them... I will decide what I want to do with them. It is okay to try some lemonade. If it turns out too tart, go the lemon bar route. Remember, pasta is ALWAYS an option. You don't have to be a lemon connoisseur in order to make a batch of lemon bars. You just have to allow yourself the choice to try a new recipe.

We live our lives in color. It's messy and beautiful and honest and sometimes scary. It can be sweet, tart, savory, and sometimes just plain foul. If you don't know what you want, that's okay. You don't have to have life figured out and solved in order to live it. You just have to live, lemons and all.

So why not try a new recipe every now and then?

********************************************************************************************************

For your perusing, Nora Cooks' Vegan Lemon Bars recipe: https://www.noracooks.com/vegan-lemon-bars/

Cover photo credit: https://www.istockphoto.com/illustrations/lemon