Finding Your Joy

I use the symbolism of a home inspection because a home is a very sacred place and represents who we are. It should be a place that keeps us safe and sheltered, helps us share life with the people we love the most, and should be the sanctuary we run to after a hard day. If we have really poured out our attention and love into our space, it will be organized, functional, and have beautiful decor. Because it is such a personal space, and a space that we have control over to a great degree, I will use this as a symbol of your life, both personal and professional. Your home may be incredibly beautiful, spacious, inviting, in a wonderful neighborhood, with charm and striking architectural features, overlooking a gorgeous view. Yet even with all of the desirable qualities of your home, there may be underlying issues. Sometimes, just by being intentional about finding the root of any issues, you can identify them on your own. Other times it’s hard to identify what is going on in a home, and you may need to call on experts to uncover any deferred maintenance or defects. A professional and thorough home inspector would discover many underlying concerns in any house. Because we get used to our way of living in our home, it may come as an overwhelming surprise after inspection to find the laundry-list of things that are not functioning properly! Similarly, we as people and real estate agents may want to do some introspection once in a while when we feel a bit off. Maybe life is great overall, but we sense that there are some issues because we continuously run into the same roadblocks, emotional challenges, or set-backs. We may need to enlist the help of a pastor, counselor, spouse, trusted friend, co-worker, coach, psychiatrist, or doctor to help us look for clues about what is causing the frustrations, using their knowledge of us, and the experience in their particular field. Capturing everything, even the most minor issues, can be overwhelming. Some issues may be easy to resolve, while others may take years or decades to uncover fully. Often issues will surface one at a time, and as you resolve one, another may show up. It’s a process that takes patience and the right mindset. If you are in the mindset of expectancy that you will identify places within yourself that need healing, faith that you can work through each issue you find, and gratitude as you overcome each issue, you can grow into all that you were meant to be. With the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we can determine how to move forward, maximizing our potential for a fruitful life. It is so important to remain prayerful and to take God’s guidance no matter how foreign it may seem, using discernment to identify what is from God and should be embraced (life-giving, loving thoughts) and what is not, and should be dismissed (destructive, condemning thoughts). It is also important to remain open to the way God wants to reveal things, the timing in which He reveals them, and how He wants you to work towards solutions. His way is ALWAYS the best way, so take all that you read here, and any wisdom you get from other places, with an open mind. Allow God to customize the process in a way that only He knows is best for YOU. • What is clearly going well in your personal life and in your real estate business? • Do you sense that there are areas with obvious or hidden potential that you should look into more deeply? Why? • What do you hope to gain from this process? • Do you believe that you can work through anything that comes to light? o Who can you turn to for support? • How can you celebrate each victory? Our development process is like a kaleidoscope. Just like a kaleidoscope holds shapes and colors that rotate and shift, we experience a variety of challenges in life. And just like each work of art produced by a kaleidoscope, each and every challenge is made of the same things. The solutions are also made of the same things. It may seem or look different from the time before, but that’s an illusion. The truth is that as we turn the dial on the kaleidoscope of life and overcome one challenge, a new challenge is revealed that gives us the opportunity to learn the same lesson on a deeper level, or in a different way. Another way to look at life’s challenges and lessons is to think of them like gemstones with many facets. As we examine each facet, we are seeing something different. However, the bigger picture is that we are examining the same stone over and over from different perspectives. Life is all about perspective, and the wisdom we gain in overcoming one challenge is transferable to any other challenge that comes our way, making us stronger. Keep shifting, learning, and overcoming. It’s a process—and it’s beautiful.