Sometimes when you are trying to solve a particularly difficult problem, or you are having a challenging day, you may wonder if there isn’t a better way to make a living. Keep this story in the desk drawer for such an occasion:
In a small farm community, a man decided that because he had worked hard as a rancher-farmer all of his life, he would like to sell his place and move to the city where things were more convenient and less demanding.
He called the local real estate agent and asked him to list his place for sale. The next morning, the real estate agent called on the telephone to check the ad for accuracy before he put it in the paper. This is the ad he had written:
FOR SALE
Picturesque white frame ranch house with white picket fence and 80 acres of rich farm land in the middle of beautiful Kamas Valley. Clear streams of mountain water flow nearby, well stocked with rainbow trout. This is the gateway to the best hunting and fishing area in the nearby mountains. The farm house faces rugged mountain peaks and is located in a small, friendly farming community with good schools and a new church that is all paid for.
“Wait a minute,” the owner said. “All my life I have wanted a place like that. Now that I have it, I’d be crazy to sell it. Cancel the ad.”
In the absence of a real estate man who can see potential, it might be well to make a list of all of your assets that have nothing to do with money and then see which ones you would trade, or otherwise be willing to give up. You would then see which needs fixing, your situation or your viewpoint.