Gary Woltal's Blog

I may not know everything about Active Rain, having written and read blogs here for about a year now, but I do know people. Another gem in our midst who has a heart of gold who stepped away in April 2008 for business and family reasons is Realtor Julie Neerings out of the Salt Lake City Area. Julie, who I have stayed in contact with by email, is returning to blogging. She has one of the warmest hearts you'll ever find in life. I encourage anyone that reads my blogs to welcome Julie back and subscribe to her as well. She is a precious person with an amazing blogging style all her own. She is one of the nicest most warm people you will ever meet. You have got to connect with Julie. I never let you down with these recommendations!! Her latest comeback blog is here:

  Julie Neerings                       My Response To YOU

In today's stress filled daily lives with financial and housing problems instead of offering some additional positive spin, today I thought I would add some practical thoughts.

DO YOU KEEP YOUR TANK ALWAYS HALF FULL?

This is really a bit of common sense but I wanted to raise the awareness in this area lest you overlooked it. It has to do with the topic of reserves. Examples, when going to the grocery store buy MORE than you need, to stop wasterful trips back and forth. With your personal energy, allocate personal time for rejuvenation, meditation, and sleep. It will give you more go when you would normally be flailing. Have cash reserves, build a 6 to 12 month "cash" reserve fund. All these take the edge off. But MOST IMPORTANT build that security net in the Relationships department. Build quality relationships, friendships, love with the right caring people. These bonds will be your best support in times of difficulty.

Never drive around at one quarter full, or on fumes or God forbid on empty. Sure, with illness or bankruptcy we can find ourselves at this point in life. But as the Boy Scout motto says, "Be Prepared." If you build reserves in schedule, finances, shopping, and especially relationships, your car and your life can weather the storms that inevitably hit us at various times in our life.

One other thought also is preventative health care for our body and teeth. Jumping on things early, usually stops from getting dead in our tracks at some point and is nothing but wise medicine to take.

Good luck on purring on all cylinders even when the windshield is getting pelted by rain and you are driving over bumpy roads.

In the movie Bucket List with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson, who are both dying with terminal illnesses they list all the things they want to do in their life before they "kick the bucket." As a writer, Realtor, and a person, if you've read me over time, you know I stand out like a sore thumb in doing my own thing. I almost never write Localism posts, because, well because they are not my thing. I tried to hide that I had a birthday Saturday, but darn if I didn't have many friends here that found out anyway. No big Jason Crouch barbeques for me. It's not who I am. But as far as Localism I do like "fun" events. In the Texas area I have over 25 years of fun things I have attended and this year's visit to the Great State Fair of Texas I observed smiles everywhere. From old people to the youngest of the young, out of towners and locals, and even both sides of college football fans. The largest state fair in the U.S. is in Texas and in Dallas. Trust me, from about Oct. 1 till about the 19th each year, PUT THIS ON YOUR BUCKET LIST. It's great!!!

One thing to be aware of if you are represented as a buyer or seller in real estate by an agent is to find one that will go to bat for you. One who works hard in the negotiation phase of the transaction. And as an agent one must ask themselves,

          Are You Mule Headed?

Every deal is a little different. Stubborness is the opposite of being open minded and creative.

Coming up with new ideas, looking at a problem from a new angle, bouncing the situation off others for additional input all mean you are a flexible negotiator. Remind all parties you want to get this deal done.

Stubborness extends to not wanting to rework business plans when necessary. Don't be a mule. Be open to change. Change happens in life, ready or not.

Our financial markets continue to get pummeled of late. I hate to keep sounding pollyannaish but life is more than about money. Sure money is important for stability in our lives. But so are people. I just see the world so different than most. Some starving kid in Africa who might have a smile on his face today has no care in the world or even knows what the Dow Jones Industrial Average is. So just pause for a little while with housing woes, with financial market troubles, etc.

Think about people. Those in your family. Those around you. Those in the world. If you are looking for happiness. Look into the eyes of other people. There is plenty of happiness to go around if we will just share of ourselves. Share what little or what abundant happiness YOU have with others. It goes a long way into making the world a better place.

In the news media related to housing and the financial markets some have told me to NOT watch the evening news. Usually I'm too busy with MANY other things to watch much TV but I sampled it for the first ten minutes the other night and concluded

       WE DON'T NEED NO MORE STINKIN' PROBLEMS !!!

If you recall the Etch a Sketch from many years ago, problems may be thought of as horizontal and vertical lines all over the screen. This toy from 1960 was the first laptop if you will. So simple. But for my highly intellectual little kid self, I could NEVER get those curved lines to come out right like the pictures on the box. Something was rigged. So our problems that come in waves seemingly every day now need one thing the Etch a Sketch was famous for. When it got to be a big MESS you shook it side to side. And guess what? A clean slate.

What our leaders need to do nationally and we need to do within our families is go back with a fresh approach to problems we can control and address.

If budgets need to be looked at do that. If second or new jobs need to be looked at do that.

Above all, problems CAN and WILL be solved. We just don't need any more of them now, thank you very much. One problem I solved with not having a bad attitude is using that OFF switch on the TV.

We're off to see the Wizard...

Telescopes and Microscopes and Focus, Oh My...

In the deluge of never ending bad news in the business marketplace, how is a buyer or a seller, a Realtor or a Stager, a Loan Officer or Title Company Officer, supposed to make heads or tails of business OR life for that matter?

As they say in the game of football when your team has started off the season 0-6 and you still have dreams for the Super Bowl, the brilliant coach will come out with something like, "We've got to get back to the fundamentals. We've got to get back to the basics."

Most often when we get off course, and feel adrift, we lose sight of the very tools we've had all along with us. Namely a telescope and a microscope. OK, so you weren't too much into that Astronomy or Biology thing in high school or college. But roll with me on this one. Your telescope represents knowing your big picture. Your vision. Your grand plan. It is your wide focus, your canvas.

With the "big picture" in mind, first off does that big picture fit today's circumstances? If not zero in on another galaxy.

The microscope is for refining the focus in the details area. Looking at the hind legs on a flea. What are your priorities? What three things must you do today? Eliminate distractions to concentrate. Say yes and no decisively. See incrementally, like building blocks how you step by step head toward the goal of your big picture.

You've had your telescope and microscope with you all the time. Maybe the lenses needed cleaning. Maybe they were up on the shelf. Dust them off and practice your focusing skills.

Get back to using these tools of focus and be the mad scientist the world has been waiting to see. In this economy it probably doesn't hurt to be a mad scientist and try things others don't expect. Above all have confidence that you will find clarity. Do not lose heart ever. Remember you are the best YOU the world will ever know. Show them that person.

The world has been tough lately in business and on Wall Street and in government. You could search for answers or try to optimize your website but

You Make Your Way Through Life not with Google but with Goggles.

It takes courage. Michael Phelps, eight time Olympic gold medal winner dove into the water on one of his races. His goggles slipped off his eyes. He couldn't see where he was going to turn. This is about courage when things go bad.

This was the Olympics for God sakes. Michael knew EXACTLY how many strokes were for each lap at his highly conditioned pace. He took the splash of the water in stride. He did not panic. The hell with Google. It is all about the goggles. First acknowledge that it is crappy, life is unfair. Second, suck it up and start swimming like hell. You trained for this your whole life. And no slipped goggles are going to stop your quest to finish strong. You are a champion. Laugh in the face of annoyance. Be strong.

So next time life throws a sideways splash in your direction, first off LAUGH, second off remember this funny photo, and third and most importantly get busy and know you will get through this with your plan. You can do it. You only have a few laps to go and you'll STILL get your gold. Despite whatever life throws at you.

With the recent days of turmoil in the financial markets, viewing the levels of greed on Wall Street, and trying to figure out what this all means to our fragile economy and the housing market, it is easy to get disillusioned by the actions of others. Many are not leaders. Many do not set good examples. Many have selfish tendencies.

But the inherent nature of man is to be good. We do need to find leaders not managers that lead us in positive directions, caring for others, and the welfare of society. The examples seen of late do not show our best side.

Individually, I've always believed we ALL have so much further to go to hit our full potential.

                          WE ALL NEED TO UNLEASH THE INNER GREATNESS WITHIN US.

Look around to nature to take a cue. From tiny seed do glorious flowers bloom. From changing seasons, even when dying, rich colors emerge. The cold winds of winter with its barreness yield to the greenery emerging in the warm breezes of spring. Summer's warmth brings out the laughing and playing of little children playing in the ocean, lakes, or pools. Nature is FULL of glory.

The greatness buried within each of us is like a little spark to start a fire. The flame just needs to fanned into a passion in our lives. We need to move on to achieving more than before. This fanning comes from the encouragement of each other. Some days you are down. Some days it is my turn to be uplifted. We all need to continuously be talking and hugging each other.

We can be anything and everything we want to be. That spark starts within. It starts with just one thought. Work along your journey to continually grow your inner flame to release that inner greatness upon the world. Do not let the doom and gloom and negativity about you sway you off your track. Find out what works for you and surround yourself with others that are positive. In this kind of environment your inner greatness, like that spring flower, will bloom and show all that color you have to give to the world.

I don't know how many times in recent days with the bank and lending institution bailout or rescue plan, whatever you wanted to call it, how often the masses in the public said whatever we do, we can't reward the "fat cats" or give them huge executive parting gifts in terms of bonuses for ruining companies and lives.

While that may be entirely true the vindictiveness of the thought reminded me that there are many people out there who are so money bound they just turn plain "mean" over time. We don't need more fat cats or mean people for sure. What we need are Karate Bears.

           KARATE BEARS KILL WITH KINDNESS.

In the martial art of Karate, there is much discipline and control of what you are trying to do. Think of inside your karate outfit is a loveable bear. Within resides the "power of nice." People who are trying to take care of you. Have your best interest at heart. Are "methodically" working, say in the loan profession or real estate, to "get you the best deal." They are loveable to you. You actually trust them because they have worked for it and earned it.

More kindness is needed. Less "fat cat." If you run into one of these Karate Bears at the end of the transaction they will probably hug you. Never underestimate the power of love, a touch or kindness. May you be a caring Karate Bear to someone else.