OK, I am probably going to date myself with this one but I want to tell you

How Social Networking Is Like A Game of Checkers.

We all can't have always played Madden football or Wii. Some grew up on Monopoly, Chutes and Ladders, Sorry, and yes Checkers.

With Checkers as your board piece gets close to another if there is a space on the other side you can "jump" the piece and take the board piece, weakening your opponent. It is so akin to how social networking works with the friend in front of you. You want to jump and get to the friend of the friend.

Whether Active Rain, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or whatever social networking you get involved in you are talking to your immediate friend or seeing who they are talking to or linking to, in order to get to the "unknown" friends, the jumps across the network that you don't know now.

So is this a far fetched example of what is old is new again? Well it popped out of my brain today so I suppose it is so. BTW, try Checkers. It's easy on the battery life.

Do you know what the fundamental reason children crave stuffed animals by their bedside, while young, or maybe not so young at age twelve yielding them up? It is not to be cutesy, fun, enjoy the color and the various shapes and forms.

It is all about LOVE. A very basic need and more specifically

                      TO BE NEEDED NOW.

We in real estate need to be the Teddy Bear for our client. Lord knows there's enough stress along the way. When they are feeling the pressure not only is the Realtor or real estate professional like the aspirin for the headache, we need them now, why?

                  To make everything feel right.

Don't underestimate the emotional side of a transaction in real estate. If anything the mechanics of the deal are probably OVER HALF emotional and not the contracts and terms and conditions.

Be a Teddy Bear in Real Estate.

Kind of gives you the warm fuzzies already doesn't it???

                        Need You Now

Going Green? Are you thinking of building or buying one of the more trendy if not the way the world is going, GREEN homes? You know energy efficient, environmentally friendly? Well you need to know about LEED which is the certification they come with. LEED or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design has emerged as the most important force in the accelerating market for green buildings by federal agencies. Under the LEED 2.0 point system for homes there are four levels of certification with 45-130 points. For commercial buildings by the way there are four levels from 26-69 points. The resource categories that are measured are

• Innovation and design
• Location
• Sustainable sites
• Water efficiency
• Energy and atmosphere
• Materials and resources
• Indoor air quality
• Awareness and education

The LEED point system for homes is

• Certified: 45-59
• Silver: 60-74
• Gold:75-89
• Platinum: 90-130

The average family spends $1,900 a year on heating and cooling and lighting and all electric and gas and oil. A family of four uses 25,550 gallons of water a year just to do laundry. We all can do our part to save on our bills and help the environment with newer homes and commercial buildings that get the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED certification. BTW, the new World Trade Centers will be platinum certified. From the past comes a new brighter future!! Go green, is not all about being Irish!!

I heard this quotation from a relationship coach:

   You Can't Spring If You Cling.

It applies to relationships, moving forward with your ideas and thinking, just adapting better to change. Taking some of the good of our past experiences with us on the road ahead is helpful. But there is a lot of baggage we need to leave behind. Particularly worn out ideas, or ideas whose time has come to shelve. Oftentimes I think we need a clean sheet of paper for each day along with our library of expererience in our closet to write down what we would like to try new today.

Springing only happens when we do stop clinging. Only us or a great deal of pain in our lives imposed on us can get us off that leaf, branch or fence. Remind those that are on a fence (like sometimes buyers or sellers) that nothing happens till they make a decision. Time's a wastin'. Learn to spring, not cling.

We were all built to live in the present but head toward the future and not get bogged down by the past.

Do You Care What Your Blogger Buddies Think Of You?

A good question to ask especially on Active Rain where many who read your blog posts are peers in your industry. Granted many external consumers read Active Rain as well. But what image do you put forth? What about religious or political views? Moral stands, lack of morals, too much information in other parts of your life. For the most part when bloggers have met in person they feel like they have known each other even prior to meeting.

There are other instances where the "real live" person is far worse than what they write about themselves.

What about our self-esteem? Are we just comfortable in our skin and know we can't please all the people all the time even if they are our buddies? I think high self-esteem has two parts. We do care about the opinions of those whe are important to us. We also should be strong enough to just be ourselves. That's the part of ourselves we know, and can play best.

Be YOU and let the chips fall where they may!!

Many real estate agents will get frustrated with the actions of their associates or their clients. Shoot, even here on Active Rain Members poke at other Members. What to think of all this in the world? Well, when people are mean or inconsiderate it usually means they are hurting inside from something in the past or just some bad habit they picked up along the way. Only they can change themselves and mildly, maybe, you can influence them. But the error in our looking external all the time at other people is THAT is NOT what we can change.

   Look Inside For Change But Still You May Be An Onion Lady.

We truly can only change ourselves. Those binoculars need to be flipped around on their end and we examine our own inside. Our interior motives, weaknesses and flaws. That's where the real emphasis needs to lie. But it is tough work. We are slow, if not even unwilling to change our ways. How'd we get so stubborn? Who knows? But only we can fix ourselves.

To illustrate that sometimes we are what we are, here is the fable of the onion lady.

Once upon a time there was a peasant woman and a very wicked woman she was. And she died and did not leave a single good deed behind. The devils caught her and plunged her into the lake of fire. So her guardian angel stood and wondered what good deed of hers he could remember to tell to God; ‘She once pulled up an onion in her garden,' said he, ‘and gave it to a beggar woman.' And God answered: ‘You take that onion then, hold it out to her in the lake, and let her take hold and be pulled out. And if you can pull her out of the lake, let her come to Paradise, but if the onion breaks, then the woman must stay where she is.' The angel ran to the woman and held out the onion to her. ‘Come,' said he, ‘catch hold and I'll pull you out.' he began cautiously pulling her out. He had just pulled her right out, when the other sinners in the lake, seeing how she was being drawn out, began catching hold of her so as to be pulled out with her. But she was a very wicked woman and she began kicking them. ‘I'm to be pulled out, not you. It's my onion, not yours.' As soon as she said that, the onion broke. And the woman fell into the lake and she is burning there to this day. So the angel wept and went away.  ~ Dostoevsky

So looking inside we should endeavor to love instead. What does love look like?

It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. This is what love looks like. ~ St. Augustine