Thursday, September 18, 2008
Rise To The Occasion
So who's responsible for the mess the markets are in? I can tell you for a fact who isn't: Me.
Four and a half years ago I attended a seminar on real estate and mortgages sponsored by my credit union. One of the speakers was a broker who was encouraging me to look at a tremendously overpriced one-bedroom in a remote part of Brooklyn.
"I don't think I can afford that," I told her. "It's more than twice as much as I'm paying now."
"Well," she replied, "I've found that when you really want something, you rise to the occasion."
What am I, yeast?
The next morning I asked myself, "If it weren't for the lack of space in this apartment, would you want to move anywhere else?" No. So make more space where you can, rent office space when you need the privacy, but don't over-extend yourself on a place you'd have to take two extra jobs to afford.
Shortly after that, Jim was diagnosed with the illness that would kill him, and I had greater things to have to rise to. And now I have to wonder how many people, corporations and government organizations talked themselves into rising far beyond their limits, only to be slammed as flat as a pancake.
Four and a half years ago I attended a seminar on real estate and mortgages sponsored by my credit union. One of the speakers was a broker who was encouraging me to look at a tremendously overpriced one-bedroom in a remote part of Brooklyn.
"I don't think I can afford that," I told her. "It's more than twice as much as I'm paying now."
"Well," she replied, "I've found that when you really want something, you rise to the occasion."
What am I, yeast?
The next morning I asked myself, "If it weren't for the lack of space in this apartment, would you want to move anywhere else?" No. So make more space where you can, rent office space when you need the privacy, but don't over-extend yourself on a place you'd have to take two extra jobs to afford.
Shortly after that, Jim was diagnosed with the illness that would kill him, and I had greater things to have to rise to. And now I have to wonder how many people, corporations and government organizations talked themselves into rising far beyond their limits, only to be slammed as flat as a pancake.
