“If you had a choice to burn at the stake or freeze to death, which would you choose?” I remember being asked this thought provoking question years ago.
It reminds me of some people who, under stress, have red hot volcanic tempers. Others have a tendency to turn ice cold and withdraw into themselves. Both are toxic tendencies that are tough to take.
Recently, I closed on a property where the retired couple wanted to move to the other side of town to be near their son & grandson. The weekly one hour drive each way was getting tiring. The Irish husband wanted to move if he could get his price. Even though his health was failing, he put more importance on his financial means than his family matters.
Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life, said, “Humility isn’t thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking about yourself less”. A pundit once quipped, “Middle age is when a broad mind and a narrow waist change places”. Humble people don’t burn or freeze others.
Earlier in the year I listed a property for a former client who had lost his job, had a medical procedure, and had his wife leave him, all in the period of one month. He was angry and upset with everyone but himself. His next door neighbor commented that he felt many of the wounds were self-inflicted.
A wise man once said, “It’s always better to look in the mirror before you stare out the window”. The bible says to look at the log in your own eye before you notice the splinter in someone else’s eye.
If you look in the mirror, or at a client and see hot, volcanic lava, or frigid, frozen feelings it’s time to make some changes.
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