0003: MAKING MAGIC LEMONADE ON ADVENTURES

Making Magic Lemonade On Adventures

273 words, < 2 minutes

Is this post about disappearing lemonade? Nope. Is it a recipe for really good lemonade on adventures? Not exactly, but stay with us until the end.

When life gives you lemons, don’t squeeze them in your eyes. That’s reasonable advice, albeit not super helpful.

Adventures are full of challenges. The best plans change at any moment, and the whims of humans and nature are full of surprises. Raffan’s 1987 paper on the lemon system¹ reflected that a crisis rarely occurs due to a single factor. Instead, a crisis is usually a result of multiple factors coming together, like the lemons on a slot machine. One of the key principles of risk management is being primed to recognize lemons constantly.

Recognizing challenges to avoid crises is important. Reframing these challenges as opportunities is also a helpful mindset. Combination is powerful in both directions.

Lemons alone don’t make lemonade. Water and sugar turn lemon juice into lemonade. Just as a series of errors can lead to a crisis, layers of creative adaptations can make something magical.

How do magic tricks work? According to Olson and Raz², the best magic tricks have many subtle layers with slight imperfections and misdirections. Our adventures often go in unplanned directions. Perfection is impossible and undesirable. Both magic tricks and adventures that are too smooth aren’t appreciated as much.

Life is complicated, even when we want it to be simple. Imperfections, errors, and challenges are the Struggle and the Joy. Adventures, magic, and lemonade are all made better by layers of complexity coming together to create something bigger, something magical.

Thanks for reading, and remember, watch out for those lemons.

And now for the magic lemonade. It’s super easy.

Mix Dr. Smoothie Lemon Puree with water, ice, fresh mint, and blend.