Gary Woltal - Associate Broker REALTOR® Dallas Ft. Worth

I wrote a post a long time ago that the sky was not falling with the problems in the housing market. In the feeble attempts to iron out the current "bailout" bill for banks and lending institutions I think I need to go back to my well grounded self and serve up the reminder that

THE SUN ALWAYS RISES.

Think that you are hiking early in the morning near this lake by these mountains. The brilliance of the sunrise makes the still lake reflect the peaks into the water.

Do not let the talking heads of the day add to your anxiety. Note nature. It does not worry. Worry does not add a single hour or single day more to your life. Take yourself to a place of calm. Everything will work out just fine. Even using words like "crisis" are bad leadership words. It gets to be a snowball effect with then next people using works like "panic." You only can control what is in your control. Whatever man does or does not do, the world will still be here. Change is inevitable, both good and bad in life.

But, THE SUN ALWAYS RISES, issuing in a new day. Full of possibilities for you. Full of new dreams to be made. Do not fret. Life is more than just money. Much, much more.

With my reverse wired brain leave it up to me to see a completely different lesson in the Federal bailout of banks and lending institutions.

 Life Is ALL About Second Chances.

While the example in this case is not of the most noble, think about our whole spectrum of life. Who would not like a second chance to get it right financially in business, with averting a life threatening illness, to patch up a relationship or begin anew with a new one? I think we all in life, like those fresh and clean sheets of paper to start marking down on them the new story. Toss the old story out the window.

We seem to have this infinite capacity to mess up. We can only draw hope from being given second chances. Even the God of the universe is an entire story of second chances. Think of the Jonah and the whale story. Now THERE was a reluctant servant that got a second chance to do his mission right. I never could figure out why the whale didn't just digest him, end of story.

You've got to look at adoptions of children and pets as equally great second chance stories.

So take heart with the craziness going around you some days in the world, and perhaps even in your own life. Maybe second chances are what life is all about. Today's disaster is setting the stage for something better. It's only a matter of time till you find out. Always keep hope alive. And I'll take that little doggie in the window, thank you very much!!

                   May You Always Receive A Second Chance

 

Over time as I have gotten older I have been more and more of a seeker in life. One of mankind's biggest needs beyond love is the quest for happiness. I know that joy is different necessarily from happiness and comes from within. Joy is kind of like this zenith of happiness. Joy can be present despite outside circumstances. It is something you hold inside. Kind of like memories.

But I have found that what can spark these feelings of elation inside can have to do with highly positive events that you create for yourself in your life. I have observed that

JOY IS FOUND IN FANTASTIC FINISHES.

I have used quite a few sports analogies to relate to how life works. Life is a journey. It has competition. It has its ebbs and flows. You can find yourself a winner some days. Sometimes you are mired in the agony of defeat. Life requires practice to be good. We all have our role to play in a team effort. The competition and the conditions bring out our character. You can learn a lot about a person's character watching how they handle how a poorly played round of golf goes for them.

But with joy, if we work hard along a journey, and get to a finish, a "fantastic finish", there is no better feeling in the world. It is a great sense of accomplishment. You have overcome odds that may have been stacked against you.

Think of the 1980 Olympic mens USA hockey team that got by the heavily favored Soviet Union team to eventually win the Gold Medal. The men on that team can carry that joy with them, along with those fans that followed that game, for the rest of their lives.

Even in building a new home from the ground up or searching for weeks to find your "perfect" homestead, it is a feeling of jubilation when you cross the finish line. You have that joy in your heart.

I've personally been training to run a half marathon. Sometimes I think my goal is too low when I know others that are performing as triathletes and one lady I know who just completed an "Ironman" triathlon with enormous distances in swimming, biking, and running. But I know on my journey when I cross the finish line successfully I will have added another notch of joy to my belt, something no one can take away from me.

Now we all can't be at the superstar level in our fantastic finishes like a Tiger Woods in grinding out a sudden death win in the U.S. Open with a torn ACL.

But the point is we need to finish. And we need to have a "fantastic finish" to generate those great feelings inside.

I provide the sports visuals to help to imagine this inner joy. It truly is available for all of us if we just think about it.

A race car is probably another good visual. You are driving your life to an important goal. You need to be out on the track. You need skill. You need to navigate the turns and take a pit stop now and then. You above all need to FINISH to have that sense of accomplishment.

Fantastic finishes do not have to be all about lofty goals either. They could be as simple as taking a long needed vacation. The point is you got on the path and you completed it.

It is in the fulfillment of something when dreams come true. Live your life so no dreams are left on the shelf.

The secret to this joy thing is completion. Then there is more joy to be found.

So when you see that skinny kid coming up the road finishing his half marathon, know that he has just added another deposit into his joy bank.

May you have many fantastic finishes along your own journey.

With the financial markets in turmoil with banks and credit problems one word pops into my mind as the Scrabble game word of the day.

TRUST.

From an institutional point of view, from our representative government, from entirely too many an individual, trust is not what it is supposed to be. These are character flaws. Human weakness. What's remarkable to me is many Americans live lives with their families showing trust in each other each day. Yet if power corrupts, and greed sets in for many an individual or organization it seems that trust just goes right out the window.

In the future days ahead, those of us who are trustworthy individuals can be examples to those who are not. Unfortunately sometimes the consequences of bad apples amongst us affect the whole barrel. For those of us who show trust in our lives keep doing what you are doing.

More than just a word. Trustworthiness is a way of living the right way.

Certain images stand out in my mind throughout life. There is a

LIFE LESSON FROM FEEDING DUCKS.

It could equally apply to feeding geese, seagulls, or pigeons. Imagine you are one of these birds. Some little boy is throwing bread your way. You may or may not get your piece right away. You have to be PATIENT!!

Patience is that act of waiting. It is allowing life to unfold. Those in life like me and maybe you, who like to drive results with persistence stuggle mightily with patience. Patience is the wisdom behind perserverance. It is knowing that some things take time to develop. ESPECIALLY things out of your control. Focus on what you can change and accept what you cannot. Patience is for distant and difficult goals. Hang on with time and the conditions will allow you to succeed.