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The Difference a Day Makes

By
Real Estate Agent with Long and Foster Real Estate VA License # 0225089470

The Difference a Day Makes

There is a lot of talk about the joy today, the last day of 2020, is bringing.  The reality is that the first day of 2021 is going to be more of the same.  Nothing changes except the date we will be filling into offers, checks and seeing on our calendars.  While it is a nice sentiment to think that we are sweeping this s*** storm to the curb, the reality is that we are not.  

All in all, 2020 was not a total loss.  It revealed independent thinkers.  It also revealed those that won't allow anything to stop their success or positivity.  Once again, I am left thanking God for who I am and my ability to trudge through years like this and still keep my head up and see the good.  My mom survived COVID.  I learned a ton from personal experience in her buildings COVID ward.  And finally, I sold more real estate than I have ever sold any other year.  On the sad notes, I had to move my mom to memory care and say goodbye to our first kitty love.  Those were made all the more raw by quarantine and not being able to be in the presence of loved ones or doctors.

Seeing 2020 go won't upset me, but ringing in a New Year under the same conditions we've seen in 2020, is not exactly worth a celebration to me.  Fear will take the lead first day out as we are prohibited from gathering to celebrate.  More people will be losing their jobs.  More families will struggle to survive. Our government will continue to give away money we don't have.   

While my business does well, it's heart breaking to see the toll all the precautions have taken on our local economy.  The divide between the haves and have nots is growing greater during this time.  Not sure the greater good was actually served by the overload of precautions, but that's a debate that generations from now will have in their ethics and government classes.  

At the moment I'm reading a book on Thomas Jefferson called The Art of Power.  I think if I could go back in a time machine and talk to anyone, it would be him.  I'd love to sit in his Monticello home, atop that mountain, and see his reaction to where we are in the United States right now.  The amount of debt our government has, the sheer size of it and the taxes we pay would probably be enough to need smelling salts to revive him.

While I am struggling within as 2020 comes to a close, I will wake up on January 1, 2021 with the same resolve to make my take care of my loved ones and serve my community with the skills I have learned in real estate and through personal experience. Let's see where 2021 takes us.

Comments(7)

Lise Howe
Keller Williams Capital Properties - Washington, DC
Assoc. Broker in DC, MD, VA and attorney in DC

There is something empowering about the feeling of shutting the door on a really bad experience even though it is just the next day on the calendar

Dec 31, 2020 02:39 PM
Chris Ann Cleland

NYE has always been just another day for me.  And this year, I don't see that we are shutting the door on a bad experience.

Dec 31, 2020 09:21 PM
Ed Silva, 203-206-0754
Mapleridge Realty, CT 203-206-0754 - Waterbury, CT
Central CT Real Estate Broker Serving all equally

I recently saw a cartoon of a 2021 new baby that was slightly disheveled and it's caption just read " I don't have to look like much to be better than 2020:"

It is with mixed emotions that we say good bye to 2020, knowing that tomorrow, Jan 1, 2021, will just be another day of the same thing with a hope of getting better

Dec 31, 2020 02:43 PM
Chris Ann Cleland

Very true.  Wish I had seen that cartoon.

Dec 31, 2020 09:22 PM
Dorie Dillard Austin TX
Coldwell Banker Realty ~ 512.750.6899 - Austin, TX
NW Austin ~ Canyon Creek and Spicewood/Balcones

Good evening Chris Ann Cleland ,

Your post is reality....you are right...tomorrow will be more of the same thing with a hope things will get better! Let's see where 2021 takes us.

Dec 31, 2020 03:53 PM
Chris Ann Cleland

For now it's fireworks going off in the neighborhood, but we first thought they were gunshots.  Thanks 2020.

Dec 31, 2020 09:22 PM
Kathy Streib
Cypress, TX
Home Stager/Redesign

Hi Chris Ann-I echo your sentiments!!!  Waking up tomorrow will mean 2021 on our calendar year and mentally should help us.  I speak of your mom often as an example that Covid doesn't always mean a negative outcome. And it speaks to your strength and finding a way to care for her. 

I've been to Monticello twice and love it!!!! If you haven't been, I hope you have a chance to go. 

Dec 31, 2020 04:11 PM
Chris Ann Cleland

That's where the last pic came from Kathy Streib .  I love it there.  Always been in the fall.  Would love to go in the spring and see the tulip garden.

Dec 31, 2020 09:23 PM
Kathleen Daniels, Probate & Trust Specialist
KD Realty - 408.972.1822 - San Jose, CA
Probate Real Estate Services

Hello Chris Ann Cleland - that is my attitude ... let's just see what happens. We need to roll with the punches or drop and roll ... we must take care of ourselves so we are there to take care of others ... and truly serve the greater good ... something the political area fails to do. 

Happy New Year ... Let's see what it brings!  🍾🥂

Dec 31, 2020 06:28 PM
Chris Ann Cleland

The only thing politicians are good at is dividing the country and lining their own pockets.

Dec 31, 2020 09:24 PM
Kat Palmiotti
eXp Commercial, Referral Divison - Kalispell, MT
Helping your Montana dreams take root

Good morning and Happy Friday!

Today is another opportunity to live, persevere and enjoy, regardless of what is thrown at us.  I hope your day is fantastic.

Jan 01, 2021 06:33 AM
Chris Ann Cleland

I like your attitude Kat Palmiotti .

Jan 02, 2021 01:24 PM
Debe Maxwell, CRS
Savvy + Company (704) 491-3310 - Charlotte, NC
The RIGHT CHARLOTTE REALTOR!

It's been a crazy year and like you, I feel that the small businesses that had to shut their doors as a result of idiot politicians, is horrific. As you mentioned, this is just a new day - one that we are still hunkering down in our homes, worrying about those we know who have the China Virus. I can't seem to think that 2021 will be a better year though - and like you, I'm going to focus on that, Chris Ann - selling houses and making clients' dreams come true!

Here's to a reset for 2021!

Jan 01, 2021 11:52 AM
Chris Ann Cleland

I just can't take much more of this emotionally or mentally.  It's rough when your own reality doesn't match with what you are being told.  

Jan 02, 2021 01:24 PM