I've been a student of life both in real estate and with people in general. There is an order of magnitude difference between how many times a child smiles and an adult. Something like 50 times a day for a child to maybe ten a day for an adult. I may have the precise numbers off a bit, but the difference is dramatic. I think it has to do with responsibility vs. carefree living. The world beats down on adults.
WE NEED TO RECLAIM OUR CHILDLIKE VIEW OF THE WORLD
Not to be a child, but to have the attitude of a child.
It constantly amazes me when people smile at you and encourage you how uplfiting it is. Just a mere smile takes stress right out of the situation. A genuine smile is the mark of a connection of friendship. Who wouldn't want someone to like them? It is universal in the world too as the beginning of love.
Put a few more smiles in your day. Practice. Practice. Practice. And as Josh here suggests take delight in the smallest of things. We can learn a lot from the little ones. Because, you know,
I am convinced working real estate from the beginning of a transaction to the end you get to be a lover of uncertainty. Like snowflakes, no two paths are the same. It does mirror how life dishes itself out to you so often as well. I have written earlier about cause and effect and how planting seeds can reap a harvest of kindness or something negative depending on the seed you plant.
With the process of uncertainty, as Forrest Gump would say, "You never know what you are gonna get." You know what?
I'm okay with that.
I refer to it as connecting the dots into an uncertain future. If anything it makes the ride that much more of an adventure. Those that crave extreme security could never handle assisting those buying and selling real estate. No day, no client, no transaction is ever the same.
We help in connecting the dots. We just don't know what the final picture might look like. To some this would strike terror in them.
I finally have had enough of it today. I have to rant. Not in my nature. But first off there was the continued bombardment of negative news in the real estate markets. That was followed by middle class fears about their future prospects. Then on and on, people keep telling me about how bad it is. Are there problems all about? Yes, of course. Do they have problems? I suppose they do or they wouldn't gripe so much to me. Do I have problems? Believe it or not, I am not immune either. Guess what? If you are alive YOU WILL have problems. But,
THE SKY IS NOT FALLING
You would think it is with the amplification of the negativity by so many people and the media. I guess this is the downside to 24 hour news, the Internet, text messaging and cell phones. Instant information, in this case BAD NEWS, all the time. Get a grip. These are far from the worst of times any one has ever gone through. It is turning into some kind of self-fulfilling event. Think that all is bad and then look for anything bad to happen to validate it.
I am on the other side of the fence. It is NOT all bad. With problems you have to learn to solve them. Adapt. Change. Figure out a new plan. Use that head for something other than a hat rack. Get inspired. Read something that will change your life. Do something for others.
Rainbows always follow storms, and they are linked in nature.
You just need in your life a visionary to show you the way through the fog. Place your bets on someone who is a problem solver and REFUSES to be mired down in the muck. Stay upbeat. Solve problems. Let go of what is out of your control. Keep the faith. Find in every aspect of your life a
I haven't followed the 65 team NCAA tournament as close this year as the last two years when my alma mater Florida Gators won consecutive men's college basketball titles. But I did pay somewhat closer attention to the Final Four this year when four number one seeds made it to the end. Monday evening before retiring to bed I saw the pre-game Kansas coach's locker room pep talk and I saw in regulation the tying and going into overtime three point shot over the favored Memphis Tigers. I went to bed KNOWING Kansas would win based on those two observational points.
Like in Real Estate where I see winners in life every day from professionals to clients, I saw something in Kansas.
They had that spark.
Can You Spot A Champion??
I've convinced myself of late that I can. I suspected back in the Super Bowl that the NY Giants had destiny on their side and could overcome the underfeated Patriots. With the Kansas Jayhawk basketball team their coach had all the chemistry going his way. He was proud of them and the journey they shared together. He knew they squeaked by Cinedrella Davidson University. His men he said would remember this night for the rest of their lives. He said to be themselves. That's all. Just be themselves. Oh yes, and have FUN!
By not wilting in the final seconds of regulation and being "daring" to take a three point shot and be themselves, I KNEW, I was seeing a champion in the making.
Look for the champions around you. Maybe YOU are the champion and you can put your superb skills to use around you to lift others to lofty heights. You probably are on your way to being a champion if you BE YOURSELF. Find the champions in your midst. They always inspire me.
In listening to buyers and sellers of real estate as well as the workers that interact with them (REALTORS, Stagers, Lenders, etc.) you do come to the conclusion that everyone is so incredibly busy. I do wonder if people are not carving out enough time for
THEMSELVES
What a novel idea. Time for yourself. It is needed to re-charge your batteries. So the question to ask yourself
WHERE ARE YOU FREE?
Free from the pressures in your life. Free to disconnect from all the electronic gizmos that connect you with everything. Free to have some peace and quiet for a period of time. Free from other people briefly. Where is your respite?
For me it is the basketball court, running, and walks in nature.
Clients rely on REALTORS, Stagers, Lenders, Appraisers, and Inspectors to get them out of the mud. People need to move forward. In today's tighter credit environment it is easy to get stuck in the mud. With excess inventory of homes, the choices can get confusing. Even getting stuck in analysis paralysis can get a buyer comparing one home versus another eight. This is not good. Clear thinking, weighing values that are important to a client, and armed with the facts as an advisor help one move forward. I must say there are so many ways to get stuck in the mud. Fears that prices will keep dropping or reading too much negative meda about housing make it a natural.
So too in life, in many phases we can get stuck. A confused mind is lost and can not find its way out of the dense forest. A compass is needed and a map. Clarity in thinking leads to direction. Pause to think. Reflect on things. Consult with others. Study. Solutions are there. We just have to work a little harder to find them and get unstuck out of the mud that often mucks up our lives. Here's to much dry pavement and straight roads that you discover!
How do you know? I challenge all buyers of property to think grand. How do you know you can't afford a property? Have you ran the numbers? How do you know the house can't be brought up to standards, the icky carpet replaced, the Little Miss Bo Peep pink room painted. We must think. Too often with houses and in aspect after aspect of life, what is it that gets in our way? Ourselves. It's called our
LIMITING BELIEFS.
Why do we do this to ourselves?
It's like we're sabotaging our very own dreams which we hold dear to us.
I have always been a big believer that the world will surprise you if you only let it!! Look around in nature, surprises and weird stuff is happening all the time.
Why will we not allow the universe to unfold for us on its own schedule? Why do we insist that we have control of everything? Why couldn't we earn twice as much money next year?
Why can't we break through to a new level in our lives? Why must we persist carrying around baggage of old regrets, frustrations, failures, negative emotions, old hurts, and negative thoughts? If you will take the time to sit under a tree one day and figure it out -- the only one stopping you from going to the next step is...
In working with many people in Real Estate from all walks of life what has been reinforced to me as a law of the universe, is what you might call the ying and yang, cause and effect. What people put into something they get out of it. Work hard and most of the time you are rewarded. Be patient with people and they will come to an understanding of you. Likewise, if people do not show up on time you will find that you will not want to work with them. If you are the one with the slouchy habits others will steer clear of you.
I do realize in life that bad things do happen to good people, but sometimes there are valuable lessons wrapped up in those struggles. There is some kind of divine hand or karma at work here I am sure of it. I see people that go down wrong paths being punished in the long run.
Others who plant seeds of kindness and unconditional love in the end are loved by many. It just seems to work very much like throwing a boomerang. What you send out into the world comes back to you. If you are mean, meaness will come back and track you down. If you are a good soul, predominantly good will find its way back into your life in many ways.
Springtime in Texas is an interesting time. In Real Estate the buyers start coming out and looking at houses in hopes of buying between April and August. In the fields our world famous Bluebonnets explode with their color and thanks to a wildflower planting project many years ago with the highway department fill the sides of our roadways with their reminder to us that Spring has sprung.
Springtime reminds us of the cycle of life that once what appeared dead comes back to life again. It is a time of renewal. It reminds us to open our eyes. Are we seeing what is really there?
Too often in life we can be dead to the world, and allow ourselves to be sad or depressed.
You know what? We may be living in a winter season of our lives and need to again be reminded that Spring is around the corner and all hope is not lost. Which brings me to the question of the day.
DO YOU SEE THE CELLOPHANE PEOPLE?
Cellophane people are those invisible people to the many of us. They are the lady at the counter at the bus station who offers you a coffee, a doughnut, and an encouraging word when you are down in the dumps. They may be a fellow blogger that offers you encouragement. They are a parent who calls you out of the blue and cheers up your day. It may be a spiritual leader at your church who makes you think about something in an inspiring sermon who gets your day off to the right start. It may be a spouse or your child, that comes up to you out of the blue, gives you a big hug, and says "I love you." These cellophane people are all around you.
In Springtime buds appear from dead stick branches. And if you watch them even day by day they sprout into large buds, then leaves or flowers. They seem invisible, like the cellophane people, but what is invisible is merely an illusion. Springtime reminds us to pay attention. Open your eyes. Listen carefully. Hear also the voice of your heart.
It will amaze you to no end what you will experience when you become more aware. Some have a gift of this awareness more than others. Tag closely to them and see what they say they are seeing. Listen to their intuition if yours is not as keen and in tune. Put it all together from yourself and others.
Find, see, and appreciate all the cellophane people in your life. The truth is they are not really invisible. They have been there all along.
Light has ALWAYS fascinated me. From the earliest of time with the words Let there be light and there was light and it was good, it always made me think of light as a friend. You see this with buyers of homes where they FIND what they are looking for. It is a revelation. Light enters our minds at various points in time in life and we are "enlightened." Sometimes by ourselves, sometimes by others, sometimes by reading, or feeling inside, or seeing it in others.
Light is good. Do not persist in the darkness and stumble. Search for the light. Help others find the light. Walk toward the light. Many metaphors to be sure. But there just is something about the light. It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness. Find light that makes you soar. We all may be searching at various times in our life, whether it be for houses, answers, healing, or truth. Find your light and I bet you will find your inspiration and your way.
