When Life Hands You Lemons

In a corner of my backyard, we have a lemon tree. Over the years, we have pruned it, fertilized it, and tended to its care. The tree has always been big and leafy and green. However, it never once produced fruit in our first six years of living in this house. Then last year, it did. It was filled with more lemons than I could count. In true 2020 fashion, life had literally handed me lemons.

A few years ago, we hired a plant expert to walk around our property and share his expertise about how to best care for the vegetation. When he came to the lemon tree, he reached down to the base and told us we had suckers. Not the sweet candy treats, but small shoots that had started growing into larger limbs from the trunk and were taking over. Unbeknownst to us, these growths had been stealing nutrients from the tree. The expert showed us where to trim and which parts needed to be removed. Ever since those suckers were removed, our tree has thrived and produced fruit.

How can we rid ourselves of those suckers that are preventing us from blooming? This year, I’m going to use this lesson with my students. Students are capable of performing at the highest levels. What’s holding them back? What suckers are stealing the energy they need to bloom and produce?

Have students be reflective, identify those suckers in their lives and which ones they have control over, and make goals to rid themselves of the negatives. You could even create a display with a lemon tree. Students could create suckers at the base of the tree identifying what is keeping them from their full potential, add blooms when they set their goals, add lemons as goals are met or reached, and add bees around the tree to identify people who can help them pollinate their potential. This could be a great visual reminder throughout the year and be changed as needed.

Supporting your students to identify the suckers, helping them rid themselves of things that only drain their energy, and making goals to bloom into their fullest potential sounds like a great start—especially after the last school year handed us lots of lemons.