This song ran through my skull.
Have you noticed the barren landscape around you? Tumbleweeds roll across the office floor like another mortgage application that will never see the light of closure. In April of 2006, our small firm here in Allentown had 19 folks working for the cause: that of making our lives better by helping make other lives easier. Turn the clock to the common day, we are down to seven. But damn, the seven of us are some of the most passionate survivors in this new frontier. The Renaissance is here, amongst us. I see it, hear it, believe it and continue to live it.
The cycle is in motion, probably always will be. There's a ton of negativity, frustration, misguided perceptions, & the like... from the Real Estate Profession and those outside of it. Yet I see something else, something that may be considered intangible if I couldn't reach out and touch it.
On another post, I made mention of how this industry can take a toll on somebody. It really can. I said that it makes me lose my smile now and again. Yet, something kind of grew inside me the other day, from the inside out. I guess that's the way things typically grow. Call it the inspiration that comes with perspiration.
I looked around while nobody was watching as I was at the office. All seven of us were there at the same time and I peeked at everyone individually, with a sly smile in my eyes. Hai was studying mortgage products, Bill was trying to get someone into their new home, and Jane was counseling somebody on their credit. Meanwhile, Scott was charming an underwriter, Brenda was following up on files as only she does, and Bruce was making friends with a guy who just a week before hated his guts because we couldn't close his loan in 4 days without an appraisal even being done. Funny now, the guy loves Bruce. And Bruce will close his loan. I then looked down at my palms and saw the soft skin of innocent nostalgia.
As a kid, I recall dancing in the backyard of my parents home in Clarion, Pennsylvania. It was just a home to me, with my bed and my dreams. My biggest worries at the time were that my brother Justin was a bit more spoiled than I, and I just wanted to be something great... to me. I didn't fully realize my parents had bills to pay, real world concerns, or the loss of any innocence I was engulfed in at the time. My mind never truly captured the essence of it all.
Today, I find myself working with families similar to my own. I see young kids with sparkles in their eyes, and parents who are working their tail off to make it a good life for them and their own. My dream is right in front of me; to help others understand what I never understood. Sometimes I look back at being a kid and think those simple moments of being tucked in at night and dancing in the back yard as if the world was mine... is what it's all about. I look at anyone I'm working with the same. My mind and soul looks at the past and sees that sort of stuff now and again.
Now is again. I logged onto Active-Rain shortly after playing a wallflower and drifting down memory lane. I read and watched. I didn't comment on anything, I didn't post any of my typical crap. I just read, just watched. What I was reading blew my mind. Do you folks really and truly realize the landscape of talent that is right here, right now? Tumbleweeds may be strolling across our playing field but what I see is inspiring as can be. Some of the smartest, most experienced, most ethical and thought provolking folks are among us.
Right then I knew, I'm truly blessed to even play a small part in it.
I've spoken to many of you, worked with a few of you, exchanged punchlines and insights with a large bulk of you. This is a Win/Win, it really is. For the sake of our industry, the consumers who find us here are more informed by the moment. They are getting to know us at their own leisure. No pressure, just some damn solid information and insight into our own personalities. Sure, there's the occasional bullshit, yet that's a part of life.
Our exposure is pretty huge. Imagine someone from some remote part of earth, whom you've never met, typing in a word on a search engine and your words are the first they come across. As Marsha Brady would say, "That's dreamy." There are superstars here, right here among us. I'm proud of my profession because of many of you... and me.
Awhile back something happened that soured me on this whole experience. I sniffled and thought, "Are we superstars and will dreams be realized?" Since, I've looked around and tangibly experienced that many of us are and they certainly can. As far as the rest of it, work above it and around it. Get in its face if you have too. That too, is a part of life.
But never lose the love...
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