Why is that phrase “making lemonade out of lemons” so popular? It implies that we must not like lemons as a society. It suggests that lemonade might be the best but not ideal thing we can do with lemons as if lemonade is no good at all.
By now some of you are beginning to catch on to who I am and what I really do. I was, from about 1987 until about 1998 or so generally in the business of private money management. That is where we would have money placed with us and then at our discretion we were paid to manage it as we would see fit.
By asset class or duration of the investment. More on that in a later article.
I then went on to work in the corporate world in a variety of ways helping those companies segment businesses for the purposes of better execution or indeed for spin offs or acquisitions.
And then on this day sitting in Las Catalinas after a whirlwind trip to Milan it hit me.
Lemons are great. Lemonade is a great drink and the people that I like the best are the ones that just have a “life will work out” approach.
So in that video what am I saying? Anything? or everything? Ramblings from Joy.
And now I reflect often particularly in this business I am in now of real estate and many of its facets, what do I really do now?
I suppose what I do is try to challenge people to understand the things I have learned. A great home is a great place and the memories it brings are immeasurable. Lemons are good and good times and bad times we have all had.
But it is how you stay a peace through it all and laugh and live and seek joy.
So even as we ramble on in our lives they are in the end stories of events from which we should draw daily happiness. Happiness are the things we do repeatedly that bring us repeated pleasure. They change often. A round of golf, a chat with a friend, a walk on the beach, sitting for the sunset, dinner with your family, a vacation with your wife. Crazy overnight stays in the Atlanta Airport. That kind of stuff is fun.
So I am in real estate as I said That is what I do for a “living” now. Or is it? Do any of us do anything for a living or are we to be living and do something so we can feed our joy?
I seek my own joy because I love what I do and I try to find those that want joy too. What is joy? It is a slowly changing inner peace and a drive to know that the focus is on now, and now is all we have. Joy is persistent even when we might feel a bit less happiness. Joy does not disappear because happiness is not present. Joy stays. Happiness comes and goes.
Joy is family, commitment, knowing we are brief and taking awe in the experience. And more.
Enjoy Life.