“In the middle of a difficulty lies opportunity.”
~Albert Einstein~
I’ve heard a lot of variations on “what to do with lemons” over the years…”make lemonade” or “add tequila” or even “throw them back,” etc… but how about this…
“Get zesty” with that baby – and add amazing flavor to your life!
That’s right. Opportunity abounds…
It just takes a little scraping – and a touch of creativity.
Scraping or adding the rind of a lemon (the zest) – even just a little bit – adds a tingling burst of refreshing flavor to almost anything it touches.
Mmmm…makes my mouth water just thinking about it!
Bakers and bartenders know exactly what I am talking about, but I am actually thinking of it more in terms of taking something commonly thought of as “sour” and how, by just looking at it a little differently, it becomes “refreshingly flavorful” – and healthy!
It’s ALL in how YOU look at it.
As a CPA, I’ve heard some pretty horrific as well as some pretty flat-out amazing journeys over the last 20 years…and not one of them was a straight path to success – NOT A SINGLE ONE.
Financial woes, bankruptcy, theft, job loss, divorce and death as well as family entrepreneurship, communities binding together during tragedy and everyday folks just taking one step at a time to get from where they were to where they wanted to be…and getting there.
The difference? Perspective, persistence and practice.
Like our previous blog, 3 Unexpected Lessons from the Blue Angels, it’s about our perspective and persistence – it’s our adventure to being a more amazingly alive (and flavorful) person today and tomorrow than we were yesterday, last week or even last year.
Hint: It’s NOT who we are compared to others – really!
A little Zest goes a long way…to creating delicious things!
It’s the day-to-day commitment to making positive and effective changes…one hour at a time, one dollar at a time, one pound at a time.
Instead of focusing on the whole lemon, just grab a little zest…
A few scrapes…more flavor…get refreshed…take another step or two… repeat. Those tiny little scrapes over time add up – and quickly.
By changing My Thinking, I easily added Zest in My Life
To battle the feelings of overwhelm, I made (zested) these small, repeatable changes…and experienced quick, refreshingly flavorful and positive results!!
- Finances: We started a budget – and stuck with it. Fed up with running out of money before we ran out of month in the early years of our marriage, my husband and I adopted a simple budget…it was AMAZING how much money we were spending that we were not even aware of. No wonder we were almost always broke the last week of each month!
We identified short and long-term goals and took small, but consistent steps to reach them. We then moved to a rolling 6 year budget, with vacations, college and retirement funding and major purchases factored in. We still use that model today…and enjoy being debt-free.
- Health: I decided to live – and live well! This one was a lot tougher for me. As a “mature” woman (i.e. over 50) who put in long hours at a desk for over 20 years, proper nutrition and adequate exercise often fell to the bottom of the “fires I have to deal with today” Bad move…really bad move.
After my two younger brothers (both in their 40s) suffered heart attacks within months of each other, I got a serious wake-up call. My doctor said I needed to lose 30 pounds to get back in the “healthy range” to ward off heart disease as well as diabetes.
What? I did not have time for dieting – and it was going to be hard. I just knew it. Surely there was a magic pill for this…right?? 
Doc looked at me, smiling and said, “Deb – you did not put that weight on overnight; you won’t take it off overnight. There are no magic pills that really work – just lose it one pound at a time, OK?”
That was 9 months ago. I have now passed the 25 pounds lost mark and feel better than I have felt in YEARS! You can too…one pound at a time. Just keep moving…
- Happiness: 1 and 2 helped make this one a breeze. Interestingly enough, by making positive changes in our family finances and in my overall health, I became so much happier without really even focusing on it– it was like a free bonus!
What I realized was that money woes and health concerns are HUGE factors in my overall happiness…and I could become even happier with a little time, patience and effort in other areas of my life.
After all, it was MY adventure, so why not make it what I wanted it to be?
So…what needs more zest in your life?
Whether “your Life’s lemons” are in the areas of money, health or happiness, know that help is available, if you need it. The key is to recognize it, get started and make those small changes –one day, one hour and one step at a time…and to keep doing it.
Our team at 1 Hour Impact would be honored to guide you or share other resources available so you can turn that “sour taste” into “refreshing and healthy.”
As Einstein said, “In the middle of a difficulty lies opportunity.” It’s time to take those sour old lemons that life is throwing at you and turn them into amazing flavor for your life!
Remember – When Life throws you Lemons…Get Zesty!
We hope you enjoyed the blog! Please “share” with your friends and let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
To your financial and life success,
Debbie
Another inspiring blog! Thank you Deb
Excellent! As well as on point…ego wants results fast BUT…our egos are NOT our Amigos .Inch by inch it’s a cinch keep going with Debbie’s steps
Bravissimo
great blog post! I do whatever makes me happy and just keep doing it over and over again 😉 if I don’t like it, I make changes so I don’t have to do it anymore.