A tweet sent me thinking this week and it prompted me to write this. The tweet says, “When life gives lemons, add vodka, and throw a party.”
I am used to making lemonade with lemons and now it seems you can make a vodka martini out of your lemons as well!
This alternative makes a lot of sense and will definitely bring some immediate relief to whatever difficulties you are facing. Alcohol has the ability to cheer the heart, and make you feel good. While this temporal relieve may make sense, it is important to heed the words of King Solomon, who said, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.”
I am going to go on a tangent here, and say it is not wise to make a vodka martini out of the lemons life gives to you because:
Temporal fixes will only yield temporal solutions. Alcohol and drug abuse has been attributed to many emotional and psychological problems. Life throws lemons which may come in the form of depression, anxiety, lost; sickness, abandonment, defeat, failure etc. and you choose to numb your pain with a temporal fix. You may feel some momentary relief, but a bad taste will be left in your mouth from the unwanted addiction to substances that will threaten to take your life. Therefore, instead of making a vodka martini with your lemons it is a wise thing to stick to the lemonade and control the amount of sugar. Instead of looking for temporal fixes, get a long lasting solution. For example seek for professional help and surround yourself with people that love you enough to hold you accountable and speak the truth to you at all times.
Avoid creating another problem while solving a problem. What is the point of digging a deeper hole and expecting to get out of the whole at the same time? Making a vodka martini with your lemons can be compared to digging a deeper hole and you may never get out. As I thought about this the following sad story came in my mind. The story headlines reads,
“Why did a teen kill his parents? Perfect family, shocking murder”. It goes on to report that Ashton Sachs was an honor student and a “sweet boy” until he opened fire in his California home. The 19-year-old drove for 18 hours from Seattle down to San Juan where he shot his parents who were in bed in their 2.5 million dollar home. According to the magazine. “He shot them in bed, because he blamed them for his “messed-up life,” saying that his parents didn’t trust him, he was “the least favorite child in the family,” and that made him feel “horrible”.
This is a tragic story and should not have happened. The young man is sad enough to shot his parents forgetting that shooting his parents was going to give in just a temporal relief, but will dig a deeper hole for him. This is an extreme example of refusing to make lemonade with the lemons life gave this young man.
Paying evil for evil will bring momentary relief, but it will not bring the internal healing you need.
Refusing to forgive those who hurt you may make you feel strong, but forgiveness will make you even stronger.
Stick with the lemonade and avoid the vodka martini, for it may save you from further trouble.