Almost Tuesday Morning Coffee

Good Monday Evening to you. I got so wrapped up in digging out and getting out of the house that I completely forgot it was Monday! With another snow storm rolling in tomorrow afternoon, most of us are betting that school will be canceled for the entire week. My Mid-West clients are scratching their heads over our area's lame snow clean-up efforts. Let's face it - we are just not good at it. You can take a peek at some of my neighborhood's snow storm pictures on Facebook. www.facebook.com/lisa.sabelhaus

I think this snow storm will delay some of the listings from coming on the market for another 7-10 days. I know that our sellers don't want to waste valuable time on the market if buyers can't make it down the neighborhood streets to see their home. As a result, I think we may see a mini-surge of new listings at the end of this month and the beginning of March.

We had a Real Estate Seminar planned for tomorrow night (TUE 2/9) in Clarksburg Town Center, but it is CANCELED due to the snow and neighborhood conditions. Enjoy the coffee and please let me know if your family or friends could use the real estate services which I provide. Have a great week! ~Lisa

INSPIRATION FOR TODAY:
"Fear knocked at the door, faith answered. No one was there."
~ Unattributed


REPLACEMENT THERAPY!

Ever received one of those emails that contains a touching message, then suggests that if you forward it to ten more people you'll receive a "special blessing" or "ten million dollars in three days"? It usually also warns that the last person who didn't forward it met some terrible fate at the hands of unknown evil-doers. Remember how that last part - the veiled threat - made you feel? You didn't think something awful would really happen, but you resented being put in the position of wondering.

We've been told many times that our worst fears are of the "unknown." An unidentified fear sends our imagination into high gear, conjuring up vivid mental pictures of dastardly plots against us. We ruminate endlessly over the possibilities. Such fear is disruptive to our well-being, and leaves us tired and wrung-out.

So, how do you handle fear? One method is to identify the fear, so that once you do, it is no longer "unknown." That also means it is measurable, and can be logically quantified. Once you know what it is, your imagination can no longer dream up worse things that it is not. Once identified, it is possible to determine possible outcomes.

Most fears will never come to fruition. Those that do are divided into two categories: those we can control, and those we can't. If we have control, we also have the ability to survive our fears, and change their outcomes. Most fall into that category.

One mother's lifelong advice to her daughter who worried too much was to replace the worry thought with another more pleasant thought. The opposite of fear is hope, which also gives us courage. The next time you experience fear of the unknown, try replacement therapy. Think positive, hopeful thoughts when fear knocks at the door. Then, when you open the door - no one is there!