New Hope is Here

Greetings from Madeira Beach, Florida where Joe and I have escaped for a quick little get away. I found the FASTEST rollerblades I have ever seen and my mission is to now find a pair in my size. I have visions of flying down Snowden Farm and Skylark. Don't worry, Mom. I will wear my helmet. The kids are still taking us in 5 different directions at once. Angela, my niece, has been a huge help in my business but even more in my personal life by helping to shuttle kids around to their activities!

We have been coming down to the west coast of Florida for some time and have seen the recession and housing market take a serious toll on the area - much worse than what we have seen in the DC housing market. Each trip over the last five years we have seen things moving backwards - unfinished condo projects, stores and restaurants closing, empty beaches… However this time down we have actually seen a small turn in the other direction. A new restaurant opened, 3-4 small retail stores have opened, Winn Dixie grocery store got a face lift and there was a 2 mile back up Saturday afternoon for people trying to get into Clearwater Beach.

This may not seem like much and there is a long way to go, especially in the housing market here, but I guess the word I would like to use is "hope." You can see that hope has returned to the area and on the faces of the people that live here. Nothing can start to get better without hope & dreams.

Enjoy the Coffee and have a great week. ~Lisa
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INSPIRATION FOR TODAY:

"I hit anything that's close to the plate. I don't wait for that one pitch.”- Rod Carew

PLAY BALL!

With the start of the major league baseball season, a simple success formula recently heard comes to mind. It uses baseball words, but contains plenty of success wisdom.

Which do you think is more important, a home run or a single base hit? Most of us would choose a home run - even a "grand slam" home run. Most of us were also brought up to believe that someday our "ship would come in" - that all of our success or wealth or whatever would arrive at once, in one grand port call.

Funny thing is - more ball games are won with base hits than with home runs. Most ships arrive slowly in port - guided by tiny tugboats - and only after having navigated the wide oceans through a series of thousands of minor navigational corrections.

Yes! Big wins and successful journeys occur most often as the result of daily decisions - not life-altering, once-a-year, mega-decisions. Want to lose weight? It won't happen because you vow on January 1 to do it. It will be the result of your daily decision to walk, run, or work out. Want excellent health? Your daily, even moment-by-moment, decisions to ingest only healthy foods and avoid junk are the ones that will win the day.

The same holds true for your success in business. While a master plan at the beginning of the year is important, it's really the steps taken each day that produce the results. As you face each of the very small daily decisions, be careful to make only the right choices. By day's end they'll add up to valuable progress both on and off the field.

Don't Worry - Be Happy

The weather here has been fabulous. I love these 70 degree days. We spent Easter Sunday hiking the C&O Canal. If you have never hiked there, you need to go. It is absolutely beautiful!

Even with it being a holiday weekend, real estate was moving quickly. Of the 3 houses my clients looked at on Saturday, 2 had offers by Sunday and they were on the market for less than 1 week and in the upper 500s. It is still a very hot spring market. I expect it to continue this way through the end of the month as buyers scramble to take advantage of the tax credits. Don't let anyone you know miss this great opportunity! Call me today and I can help.

Here are a few fun peep facts:
· It takes six minutes to make one Peeps marshmallow!

· Peeps have a shelf life of two-years!

· More than five million Peeps are produced each day to keep up with the demand of the Easter Holiday!

· Peeps are the most popular “non-chocolate” Easter candy in the United States, and have been so since 1995 when they over took the jelly bean!

Enjoy the coffee and have a great week! ~Lisa

INSPIRATION FOR TODAY:
"The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds; and the pessimist fears this is true." - James B. Cabell

THE SKY IS FALLING . . . NOT!

"The glass is half-full." "The glass is half-empty." "Looks like a beautiful day!" "I think it's going to rain." "I'm happy." "I'm depressed." "I'm an optimist!" "How can you be an optimist with things the way they are?"

OK, we all know the difference between an optimist and a pessimist - right? In some of Steven Covey's material, he states that "no one knows enough to be a pessimist." Pessimism, more often than not, is generated by inner fears, most likely fears "of the unknown." Hence, "No one knows enough to be a pessimist."

Consider the child about to learn the art of riding a bike. "I know I'm going to fall," proclaims the child - just before taking a skinned knee. After a week of practice, is the child still fearful? Once bike riding becomes second nature, i.e. once the child "knows" enough about bike riding, the fear (a.k.a. pessimism) disappears.

Just as the child's pessimism ("I'm going to fall...") precedes the skinned knee, our other pessimistic thoughts may precede our worst fears. By substituting a positive thought for a negative one, therefore, is it not possible that the action that follows might also be positive?Add to that positive thought an extra measure of learning and knowledge, and it's highly unlikely there will continue to be room for either the pessimism or the subsequent negative action. From one optimist to another, heed this advice: "Don't worry - be happy!"