When Life Gives You Lemons

When life gets hard. When the worst seems no ending. You got to step back, rethink your goals, and re-affirm your values. I wish I know more before than letting life left me behind.

All shall pass and what truly remains is ourselves, our true selves in the end. If we really are true to ouselves or not!?

Seven years ago I started planting trees. I grow them from seeds. The plants that don't usually grow in our country because it was a challenge to keep them. I had lost more trees than keeping them, our rainy weather wasn't good for the plants. But of all the plants I planted, the plant that didn't grow from seed, the lemon tree. Thrived. It grew well in our climate. Citruses are naturally a sunny crop, I never expect it to grow massive and laden with fruits. I wish I got photos of it when it had flowers and fruits at the same time.

Its story started when I was growing my own trees and my siblings started to buy fruit tree seedlings just before the pandemic hits, there was this stem I fell sorry about when it broke off from its mother plant. The damage from transporting the plants in a bag had been done to the poor little stem. My heart cried within me as I gaze at the stem falling off from its source--it will soon die, I believe. I had it transfered to a pot where some seed I planted didn't grow in it. I watered it everyday. Its leaves never fell but it never grow beyond that so I tried putting some fertilizer and noticed it grew some new stems. Months later the plant was still tiny compared to the other plants I grew. It worried me that if it I transfer it to the ground it will soon die--but I was wrong, it grew and thrived well in the ground. It grew denser than all the other trees I planted in our yard. It all started with a dream of having fruits from my trees for the whole year round, and it was so. I had lemons for a whole year now since it started fruiting. It is the first tree to bear fruits and I cannot wait till my other trees would bear their first fruits.

I realize that trees are my forte than vegetables because trees would require a little supervision than vegetables. Once their roots grow deep, it can thrive on its own. My brother said a bird started to perch on the tree for the night. Not only as a visitor but it has made the tree its home. Somehow the bird felt safe staying there even on the heavy rains. I only dreamt for fruits, not really birds. Perhaps our trees become a thriving ecosystem for such creatures that it never left. It made me felt secure for what I did. It was a talent that was given to me from God. It was His gift. I am thankful that I got to see beautiful things as this. We share this life as a thriving ecosystem with each other and it was never a toxic one because we are called to bear fruit also. A lasting fruit that would last forever, just like trees they bear fruit in return to our care.

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ABOUT ME

@janesuiren is an introverted night owl who enjoys coffee a lot. An otaku and a foodie, she also lives inside the stories she dreams to publish one day. You can catch her admiring her rainy and picturesque hometown in Western Leyte, Philippines.

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