APPLESAUCE
We've all heard the saying, "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade." The truth is that rarely does anyone hand them to us. We pick up most of those lemons ourselves, reaching for what we think are golden apples.

As children, all of us have dreams and preconceptions of what life will be like. Sooner or later in life, our dreams are shattered. We find out that the apples are not golden and that no one will hand them to us on a sterling silver platter, but that we must go out and gather our own apples off the ground.

On top of that they are rarely pretty like the ones in the produce aisle, but are small and hard and warty, and that the worms and squirrels have gotten there first.

We have to remember the old saying that the worms and squirrels always choose the sweetest apples, even as we pare and core those apples and cut away the worm holes and squirrel-chewed parts.

But if we do that and add sugar from our own store of happiness and a bit of spice out of our own creativity, whether cinnamon, nutmeg, or cloves--each of us has his own ideas, talents, and strengths--and if we stand patiently at the hot stove and stir, we can make wonderful applesauce. We can share that applesauce with others or use it to make cakes or just eat it plain and fresh, cold or warm, with a sprinkle of freshly ground nutmeg.

Or we can spend life chewing on wormy apples.

The choice is ours.

Choose happiness!