We all have heard of the phrase “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” But that phrase is based on the fact that you are receiving good lemons. Because no one wants to make lemonade with the bad, old, gross lemon. I only say this because we all get lemons in our life, although there are always those ones that are not just sour but are ones that you want to throw out. Before you toss that bad lemon cut it open, remove the seed that’s within and give that seed a new plot of soil, fresh water, and some sunlight you will soon have a lemon tree that can produce you with new fresh lemons that will be great for making lemonade. My point in this is to show you a different perspective and approach to something that you normally would disregard instead of looking further and deeper into how you can change the outcome of what was given to you such as a simple lemon.
THE BAD LEMON
When I was first diagnosed with psoriasis, I was definitely caught off guard. For those of you who do not know what psoriasis is, it is an auto immune disorder that my skin is basically over producing skin cells, which causes plaque to build up in results of pain and inflammation at the site. With that being said, I was living my normal life and suddenly noticed I was getting pain in my scalp and one day my sister was cutting my hair told me she saw what looked to be like psoriasis. So, I decided to look into it and the next thing I knew over the course of a week I broke out into a flair up from the top of my head all the way down to my feet all across my body. The pain was just burning everywhere and if you have ever had cracked dry lips that’s what it feels like. So, I did what anybody else would do and immediately scheduled an appointment with a dermatologist. Going to that appointment was nerve racking as I had really no idea what was happening so fast. The doctor took a look at everything and calmly told me that I had psoriasis. They went ahead and put me on a medication and explained it was not necessarily the most enjoyed medication from what other patients had told them they also told me most people that get put on it can not stand the side effects. Long story short I tried it for about two months that were miserable. I felt like a walking zombie I could barely function hardly could drive and had no energy or will to do anything throughout the day. It was a terrible experience.
CUTTING THE LEMON
Now that I am aware that I have a bad lemon in my life I decided to cut it open to get to the seed. I started looking into other testimonies of other people who had psoriasis to level I did. Seeing what things, they have tried what seemed to work for them and what didn’t. I also decided to look more in depth at the “science” behind what exactly what was happening inside my body. This way I had a better understanding of what was needed for taking care of myself and figuring out how I was going to make changes in my life to overcome this. Not every seed requires the same about of water, sunlight, and nitrogen in the soil to thrive. So, I needed to do my research to know how I was going to plant this new seed in my life. And that is exactly what I did. After some time of research along with trial and error I became more in tune with my body and being able to read what it needed. I also discovered the extreme number of products that sit on our shelves that have so many poisons and toxins in them that really are not good for your body at all. This is something that goes even beyond psoriasis. These products are so popular everyone ignores to investigate how they negatively affect you. Then they get another product to help cope with the initial product. And then this becomes a domino effect. Instead of taking the time to listen to their body and give it the natural things it needs to thrive they continue to mask their problems with all these products. It’s as simple as this. You have a headache your immediate response is to take a pill for pain relief, which is understandable because it’s normal to want to deal with adverse symptoms one might be experiencing. But you shouldn’t stop there, you really should be looking at why you have a headache. Maybe you’re dehydrated and your body is telling you it needs more water, or that you are tired and need to rest, maybe that your stress levels are unhealthy. Either way your body is trying to get your attention, not trying to tell you it needs a pain reliver. Cutting open this lemon showed me this firsthand.
PLANTING THE SEED
Planting this seed was a process but I am thriving and am comfortable in my skin both psychologically and physically. I learned the necessary things to give my body, to feel the best it can with this condition. I have taught myself the ways to engage with my body to understand when it is not happy and give it the attention it needs to recover to the best of my ability. I am not perfect as no one is, but I have pushed to a new level in my life in taking a step back and adapting to the situation that happened to me and I apply that into my everyday life the best I can. I look at the negatives and see how I can approach it in a healthy way to overcome the obstacles that are in front of me. I am happy to say this seed is planted and has already sprouted a small tree in my life to create branches that reach into other parts of my life that are not just about medical conditions.
SO, GRAB YOUR LEMONS WITH THS. I challenge you to look at the lemons in your life and how you can get to the seeds to create new trees so that they may reach into other aspects of your life and have enough lemons to make lemonade for you and those around you.