The world is so different...

I am looking out my office window and a seaplane is taking flight above Richardson Bay. The sun is warm and bright on the hills of Strawberry Point as Tiburon peeks its head over the nearest rise. The water is dancing in tiny sparkly waves as the wind ever so gently calls out its tune.



I came into the office after grabbing a walk with Patti for the first time in a long time. She has been extraordinarily busy with her work. I have been doggedly working on escrows and listings in a different Real Estate world. We talked about our work as we walked, as we often do. And we noted how different things seems to be today than they were when we first started in business.



It is a different world. Not all of the change has been bad. I still remember the chauvinistic environment in which I first hit the sales world. Its not the same today and that is good thing. But there are somethings especially in the current economic environment that are decidedly not good. Like... truth and honestly being challenged. Loyalty and in some cases ethics being tested. To some people it isn't what is right or wrong, it might be "what can I get away with." The bar seems to set pretty low. Hard to not seek some sort of advantage over the other guy if the Jones are doing the same. Society has given a free pass to many who bend the rules. Unfortunately it seems sometimes to be human nature to see just how far the truth will stretch before it breaks entirely. Really what's a person to do? And you know... I have a hard time relating.



Everyone is cutting back. One person does the job of 3. Job security for many is precariously perched. In Real Estate we see many people with very low professional standards representing banks in Bank Owned properties on the market. Buyers look at addendums written with the intent of taking away all reasonable rights. My job has been to try and help my clients avoid the pitfalls that are hidden in between lines. I feel like we are all being challenged to hold tight to what is right in the face of this.



It is a different world.



Patti and I both have had moments in our own personal lives where we suddenly found ourselves in a different world. We both are Cancer survivors. We both found ourselves suddenly facing our own morality, when seconds before it was the furthest things from our minds. Battling Cancer certainly has some darkness to it, but I believe it also had incredible light.



You find, when you are battling cancer that some people get it and some, just don't . For some people being close to a person with Cancer is so frightening they simply stay away. But there are others who far from running away, seek to embrace you and strengthen you for your fight.



In a strange way, I find similarities to what we all are dealing with in 2011. We should indeed be there for each other. This should be a time in business and life that we recognize what is real and what is important. We should never turn our backs on what is true and real and lasting, simply because times are tougher. Walking with Patti, I remember this. I am so happy that we will continue to have these days in the midst of this crazy new world to remember just what and who is important in our lives.

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