Royalty Free Photo purchased from Dreamstime
The other day I had a conversation with a past client of mine. We discussed how he and I, because of the different businesses we are in, are constantly surrounded by negativity due to the economic conditions of today. Some days I can shrug it off without a problem and there are other days all that negativity bothers me.
Last night I came home and watched the news, and it showed a lady lamenting about her situation, i.e. her foreclosure, and she was crying. She made the comment that there’s no one to help her, which really upset me. Later in the evening, I was watching Glenn Beck on CNN and became even more enraged.
Being a single woman on 100% commission, an independent contractor and with no other source of income, I don’t earn any money until I close a sale. As a Realtor®, I pay for everything. I work everyday and yet don’t get paid until a sale closes. My company pays for nothing, and in fact I have to pay them $18,000/year (yes that’s $18,000) just to use their name. I pay for everything I touch. Back in the 1980s, as a single mother, times were extremely difficult for me. I almost faced foreclosure twice and bankruptcy once. Having had the “work ethic” instilled upon me at an early age, I went and got three part-time jobs, and picked up pop cans to recycle at subdivisions that were under construction, all the while still working full-time as a Realtor®. I remember, I even sold my gold rings so I could purchase a prom dress for my daughter. You do what you need to do in tough times. This was only a small fraction, however, of what I was dealing with during this time period. I won’t be sharing the rest of those things here.
Because I had a 12% first mortgage and a 14% second mortgage, a high car payment plus other obvious payments, I had to do everything necessary to pay my bills. And, I did. I had no one to help me and have no family. Therefore, when I heard that woman’s comment about “no one’s going to help her” I thought to myself she is correct no one is going to help her and she needed to help herself. Right after that, Glenn Beck was blasting Realtors® and our National Association of Realtors®. (On the web his show is described as “The Fushion of Entertainment and Enlightenment!”). I have never, ever heard such negativity and derogatory attacks like Glenn Beck made against my profession. He has lost a viewer. He won’t care because negativity sells. Mr. Beck, until you walk in my shoes, you have no right to blast me and; yes, I took it personally.
Which brings me to the real story of this post. During one of those particularly ”bad” days in the 1980s and on a rare day off, I watched the Oprah Winfrey show. That day the story was about a family from another country (can’t remember which one) who had made the decision to leave half the family in their country and have the husband and daughter come to the U.S. for her to go to school here. You see, she was a straight ”A” student and brilliant. They made great sacrifices so she could get the best education. On her way to school one day with two other friends, they were hit by a drunken driver. Her two friends died instantly and the car burst into flames. She was being burned alive. The paramedic on the way to the scene after seeing the accident and hearing her screams prayed she would die and not suffer any longer. She lived. Her hair was burned off, her eyes burned shut, her ears were gone, she no longer had lips and her skin melted on her body. But she lived. That day on the Oprah Winfrey show she was facing the young man who destroyed her life forever in a blink of an eye. She spoke, ever so softly, couldn’t see him and barely heard him, but said with grace that she had forgiven him. After just having had over 200+ operations and still needing more, she found it in her heart to forgive. She said she knew when he woke up that morning, it was not his intention to kill, hurt or harm anyone. Naturally, I was sobbing, as was everyone else, and I have never ever forgotten her.
Every day since that day in the 80s and the many other times I have had ”hard times”, endured dire circumstances, and didn’t think I could go on, I have thought about that young student and I don’t feel so bad. The one thing I know for sure is that there’s always someone who is worse off than you are.
Everyone has a story and certainly mine is not unique. The only reason I share mine is because we all have pain and trauma in our lives at some point. Sometimes, and more than likely, most of us have it many times over. No one leaves this earth without “something” in their life that’s painful. I still think of her often and don’t know how she is today, but I always say a prayer for her and realize my days, hurts or problems, don’t even compare to hers. Today’s a great day after all!
P.S. The picture really has nothing to do with this post, it’s just someplace I’d rather be!
ALL ABOUT…..Portland.Oregon.Real Estate by Betty Jung is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.
Based on a Blog at WordPress.
(For more local and national real estate information, go to www.bettyjung.com).
Betty Jung
2 comments
Comments feed for this article
August 1, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Dianne Gregoire
Beautifully said Betty! Here is to making today a great day, and here is to the inner strength that we all must tap into to make the best of every situation.
August 1, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Ruth
I agree and Betty you are absolutley right! It’s all fine and good to have a temporary pity party for yourself, but then get it out of your system and find that inner strength. If you are honest and take responsibility for your own actions – things will work themselves out – maybe not in the time line you were expecting, but they will work out. It’s all part of getting your “dose of life” and until you do, you may not appreciate what you really have or how you got it. As far as Glen Beck – he would say Sister Teresa did her work for publicity – just to get a reaction.