Give ‘lemonading’ a shot if you’re going through a tough time right now

You have two major options when you’re struggling with something: wallow in it or try to look on the bright side. Turns out, choosing the second option, or “lemonading,” may make you more resilient and happier overall—so that you can still enjoy your life when things are challenging.

That’s the major takeaway from research published in Frontiers in Psychology. For the study, researchers analysed data from more than 500 adults during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and broke them into two groups based on personality traits. One group had higher levels of playfulness based on something called the Adult Playfulness Trait Scale, and the other had lower levels of playfulness.

The researchers found that while both groups had a realistic view of what was happening during the pandemic, the more playful group—also dubbed the lemonading group—was more optimistic about the future and better at problem-solving. They even managed to enjoy day-to-day activities more, despite all the chaos happening around them. Basically, when life gave them lemons, they made lemonade.

While some people are naturally more playful than others, mental health experts say it’s possible to hack your brain to add more lemonading to your life so that you can make the best of whatever obstacles come your way. Here’s what researchers want you to know about lemonading, plus how to actually use it to improve your mindset and mental health.

Lemonading is slightly different from seeing the glass half full

At its core, lemonading is about having a good attitude. But lemonading is a little more complicated than just trying to be positive, says Xiangyou Shen, PhD, lead study author and assistant professor in the College of Forestry at Oregon State University. Lemonading is about having “clear-eyed optimism” about the challenges you’re facing while also trying to be positive about what’s next. “Think of it as turning lemons into lemonade while staying fully aware that you’re working with lemons, not oranges,” Dr. Shen explains.

She stresses that lemonaders aren’t deluded, though. “[In the study], they acknowledged risks and challenges just as realistically as others did,” Dr. Shen says. People who practise lemonading also feel vulnerable and isolated sometimes. Still, Dr. Shen says that what set lemonaders apart in the study is that they were able to be “realistic” about what was happening around them while still thinking of positive things in the future. Basically, they didn’t buy into toxic positivity, but still managed to be upbeat. Lemonaders were also good at tweaking their behaviors and trying to be creative in how they navigated hardships. Ultimately they felt more joy and satisfaction with their lives than people who didn’t have this approach.

Here’s how to work more lemonading into your life.

Some people are naturally better at lemonading than others, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use this strategy if you’re not already lighthearted. A lot of it boils down to trying to look at the pros in a situation, which can ultimately free you up to be more positive.

1. Acknowledge your feelings, and then try to reframe them

“Things will inevitably happen in life that upset you, and it’s important to acknowledge your feelings instead of brushing them off,” says Thea Gallagher, PsyD, clinical associate professor at NYU Langone Health and cohost of the Mind in View podcast. But instead of assuming that things will continue to be bad, she suggests mentally giving yourself other options.