The Indians Abroad

Personal lessons & self-improvement tips from kids’ lemonade stand:

You most likely have driven by many lemonade stands in your neighborhood, where young kids are selling lemonade on a roadside or from a street corner. But, have you been to one of them lately? If not, you should. You can learn a lot from them, we all can. Here are some of the life lessons to take home from a kids’ lemonade stand:

Kifds' Lemonade Stand

1. Keep it simple: One table, one or two chairs, disposable glasses, a container for money and lemonade supplies- that’s the most of it. That is all they need to meet their objective. Still, it looks so complete, as if nothing is missing. Everything that is required is right there.
2. Welcome with a smile: The young kids always have an enthusiasm about their endeavors, always welcome you with a smile. The minute you walk in (or drive in), you feel at home.
3. Entertaining and interesting: It is never boring at the lemonade stands. While you enjoy your lemonade, kids are busy with something ‘cool’, something refreshing. They may be telling some funny story, singing carelessly, running after each other, reacting to the tip they just received, performing some cheers/ dance-routines, juggling lemons or doing something else to attract the customers.
4. Adorable, yet business like: They are likable;  the service they provide is fun and enjoyable. And yet, you know that it is a business. It is a business that seems so natural. Most of us want to go there and be a part of this simple gig.
5. Quench the thirst:The mission is so simple, yet so profound. We go there to quench our thirst; a nice way to help someone on a hot day.
6. Satisfaction guaranteed: Lemonade is so easy to make, nobody cane screw it up, not even kids. When we walk in or drive in for a glass of lemonade, we know that it is not a 5-star restaurant;  we were not looking for a strawberry on top of fancy looking glass. We always get a drink that we expected.
7. Everything on the table: There are no tricks and no hidden agenda. Everyone knows what to expect from a kids’ lemonade stand.
8. Flexible, no baggage: There is no major baggage to worry about. If the rain or if storm comes, it takes no time to fold up the table and gather the supplies to head home.
9. Have a guardian angel: One may think for a second that kids are out there among strangers at their own, but there are always some guardian in the back-ground or in the nearby house. Someone – a parent or an older sibling – is always watching, always there to protect the young ones. There is always a back-up support.
10. Community service: The lemonade stand not only quenches your thirst and makes you smile; it also brings the community together. It provides a platform for the neighbors to interact, to take a break or re-group.
Our life could be much more simple, yet more rewarding, if we could learn a thing or two from the kids. It is time to look for a lemonade recipe in our own life.

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