Monday, August 4, 2008

To quote Doris...

I made mention of a Real Estate purchase gone awry to Mare in a comment on her blog. She wrote me and said she could imagine how upset I must have been that this "deal" didn't go through. First of all let me tell you that the commission on this contract was $54,000. I would only have kept 81.5% of that which still would have been a tasty amount. (around $44,000)

Now... had I thought what I'd do with that windfall? You betcha! I'd have written a hefty tithing check to my church, re-upholstered my occasional chairs and ottoman, built a deck on the west side of the house, set some money aside to help my kids over what may be a couple of rough months ahead, and quit work for the rest of the year...or forever.

Am I disappointed? Sure.

Am I upset? Not too much so.

Why am I disappointed? Because I had to go to the home of an exceptionally kind elderly couple with myriad and serious health problems, and tell them that the buyer had changed his mind about purchasing their property. They really need to get out from under the necessity of taking care of 92 acres of land. I really, really wanted to get it sold for them.

Why am I not too upset? Because I've been a realtor long enough to know that this kind of thing happens. And it happens more often than you might think. And because as long as I don't make the income, I don't owe the tithing, I can live with my furniture just as it is, I can live without the deck (we have a great patio), my children will be just fine, and I'd probably get bored if I quit working, anyway.

So as Doris Day sang many moons ago, "Que Sera Sera... Whatever will be, will be"

I'm waaaaay more concerned that my grandson is allergic to my dog and can't come in my house.
(We're working on that)
I'm waaaaay more upset that I have three gorgeous, smart, sweet sons that are lonely and too busy to find sweethearts.
(I wish we were working on that)
Heck... I'm more disturbed about the brown spots on my lawn.

I'm just too old to let money matter all that much anymore. I heard that "We spend the first 50 years of our life collecting things, and the last 50 years trying to get rid of them". For me, that is so true. I seem to have fewer needs with every setting of the sun.

6 comments:

dellgirl said...

I like the way you put this. I have had this feeling for a while now and I had not yet put it into words. I just knew that "feeling" -that I have enough, and what I have is sufficient for me.

Thanks for breathing words of life into what I've come to know and believe.

Jo, a retired teacher said...

Very profound. It does seem like the more money we have, the fewer things we need.

How old are those sons? I have a dear friend who is in her late 30s and would love to meet a Prince Charming.

Kay said...

You are very, very wise. I wish everybody, including me could be as wonderfully at peace as you are. It's something I work at. Funny how we were sort of downsizing but now that we're having to start over here in Hawaii, we have to constantly look for things for the house. Weird. Still, it's more necessities. You know, you may not have gotten that sale but there's always another buyer out there who may be that big sell again. Hmmm... sorry about that... I think I went off on my own tangent. Sheesh.

Great Grandma Lin said...

sorry your sale didn't come through but maybe another will fall into place that will go...serendipity.
i agree money is not that important or shouldn't be other than learning to take care of it, be honest, out of debt, save a little and use it wisely. a lifetime lesson or test. what if we treated our time as carefully or as recklessly as we do our money. maybe we do....

Mare said...

I must be sure that you know...no sleep was lost about that lottery scenario! We did that pool for the fun of it. I am far from a material girl!!I am so appreciative/thankful for my blessings.
PS I also wish that my son[my one and only]would find someone to share his life journey.
And many thanks for your thoughts on de-funking. God bless ya!

dellgirl said...

I'm back again, just to say hi this time. Hope your absence means you're having fun and not working too hard.

It's too bad blogger doesn't have a guestbook so we could sign that sometimes (when we have already commented on a post). Don't want to be declared a stalker. LOL