The Bible says "as a man thinketh, so is he". It also tells us to focus on things that are good, noble, "of good report", and so forth. If you search the vast majority of religions or schools of philosophy, you'll usually find some adage, observation, etc. that says that it is important for us to focus on the positive. That doesn't mean to be naive or uninformed, but it does mean that we should look at the good that goes on in our lives. Often, we may have 100 things going on in our lives, and ninety six of them are positive. Unfortunately, our society, the newspapers, your Aunt Helen, and whoever and whatever else, would have us focus on the four items that aren's up to snuff. That's just the wrong way to go.
Let's take the real estate markets as an exercise. I am the commercial real estate director for the Bay area for Keller Williams, a primarily residential brokerage firm. I visit our offices around the Bay area, and in each office I see some agents doing well, and some agents that decided long ago to believe what they read and to stop trying until this "bad" economy is over. Some positive people have transformed themselves into successful REO agents. Others are just doing well, period. When I meet them, they just refuse to buy into this "bad" economy. In the commercial sector, Circuit City is closing all of its stores, but Panera Bread is opening 90 more this year. Which do you want to focus on? Panera Bread sees construction costs down 20 percent, and it sees the ability to lock into ten year leases at very low rates. What do you see?
I'd encourage everyone to do just one exercise, however trite it may seem. Get out a sheet of paper and list everything that is going on in your life that is good. Don't take anything for granted. You can breathe on your own. I know people that can't. You can see and hear. I know people that can't do one or both of those. You have food to eat and a house to live in and clothes on your back. You have a car. You are not in prison. You have good health, etc. Whatever these things are, write them down in column "A". Then, in column "B", write down those things that need improvement. I can almost guarantee you that the items in column "A" will outweigh the items in column "B" by a whole lot. Even if they don't, this too shall pass. Keep your chin up. If you've been around long enough, you've survived worse than this.
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