When there is a problem in life, relationships, and business, we often are reactionary to the symptoms, not the real problem. The word symptom means, sign or an indicator of something else.

At our lake house, we sit at the bottom of a steep street at the lowest point. When it rains heavy, we get all the spill over from the street. Our neighbor’s yards are fine, and we get (in some cases) overtaken with water. I have three drains in our driveway to sweep the water away from the house and for years I have been trying to fix the symptoms of the problem instead of fixing the real problem. The real issue is to get the water diverted before it even gets to our driveway.

As I was thinking about this water problem recently, I stopped and realized we often do this with other areas of our life, business, health, finances, and relationships. We want to fix or repair what we see today instead of working on the real problem. A friend of mine used to say, “the best way to remember your marriage anniversary is to just forget it once.” Ha. Sometimes, flowers a day late doesn’t fix the real problem.

It is that way many times in our health, our work, and our relationships. We need to get the core issue identified and as best we can, get that part right and the symptoms will go away. Metaphorically speaking, we want the exterior of the home to look good when the foundation could be crumbling. Fix the foundation before you repaint the shutters. Fix the person in the mirror first and the rest of it will fall into place. You will also be much happier and more content. KT

One thing I learned 32 years ago was the importance a true seller is to a hotel transaction. I don’t care how much money a buyer has, without a ready, willing and able seller, he is just wasting his time. One of the first questions I always ask when a new client wants to sell their hotel is, why? The answer to that question will largely dictate if we have the likelihood of a transaction or just a tire kicker. If he can’t tell you “Honestly” why, he just needs to call someone else.

In these type cases if the seller answers, “it seems like a good time to sell,” what he is really saying is he wants you to price the deal (via offers) for him, but he is not committed to close the sale transaction. Basically, he is just fishing for a value. The answer I want to hear to that question is the real reason. Several examples are the following, it doesn’t fit with our future growth plans, it’s old and I don’t want to invest any more into it, we want to redeploy the money into something else, family situation, health situation, shift in investments etc. etc. Those are real reasons that we believe are actionable.

A true seller will be accommodating, helpful, flexible, and more importantly, easy to work with. The person that always draws to a hard line in the sand is not someone you want to spent time trying to please. In commercial real estate, price, location, performance, age etc. are all good and important aspects, but the smack daddy thing you must have is a ready, willing, and able seller. KT

Ever met someone who lets every little negative thing said to them effect their attitude and control their life with worry. I believe if we could teach our children one of life’s great lessons, it would be to not wear your feelings on you sleeve and let what someone else says, determine who you are.

For our Sunday school at church, we share a classroom with the church school that meets during the week. There is a plaque sitting behind where the school teacher sits that reads, “don’t be soft.” I believe that is pretty good advice to teach our young children.

For those of you who know me, know that I stutter. When I was in elementary school, other kids and even some teachers used to really laugh at me when I was ask a question or gave an answer. As I look back on those moments, I don’t regret one bit of it because it cured me at a young age of ever worrying about what someone else thought about me. If we could somehow teach our children this (without the stuttering part) what a gift that would be from a parent to a child. I think even God has a sense of humor because he made a man that stutters a salesman. Ha

When someone says something to you that was meant to hurt your feelings, try to imagine standing in a shower while the water just runs off your back. That is the way it should be when someone tries to hurt you with words. Just let it run off your back. What was the rhyme we learned as children? “Sticks and Stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

So, make up your mind that you will not be thin-skinned (let everything said hurt you) and don’t be soft (overly sensitive) because as best I can tell, there will always be negative people around regardless of how old you are. Just smile and say thank you and get on about your life. KT

I received these from one of our pastors and wanted to pass them on.

The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though it was a very large mammal its throat was very small.The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale.  Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was physically impossible.The little girl said, ‘When I get to heaven, I will ask Jonah’.  The teacher asked, ‘What if Jonah went to hell?’  The little girl replied, ‘Then you ask him’

The children were lined up in the cafeteria of a Catholic elementary school for lunch. At the head of the table was a large pile of apples. The nun made a note and posted on the apple tray: ‘Take only ONE. God is watching.’Moving further along the lunch line, at the other end of the table was a large pile of chocolate chip cookies.A child had written a note, ‘Take all you want. God is watching the apples

Have you ever been dreaming about something and then wake up for some reason and then can’t remember what you were dreaming?

Life dreams/ aspirations/ desires are a lot like that. If you have a dream of where you want your life to be, you are the chaser because the dream won’t chase you.  If a person that won’t get off the couch and go after what they want, what they want (their dream) won’t chase them down and come find them.

Dreams are a funny thing and need to be held very close to the heart. What most people do is start talking about it to their friends and every time you do this, the vision of the dream becomes less and less. Hold it close and let God direct your thinking and understanding and you will know when the time is right to speak about it.

I believe dreams are a lot like temptations. The temptation for something may be strong but there is always a path to walk away. A dream is the hope that comes in times of despair that gives you a reason to keep going. There is always a dream, some may be small, and some may be big, but there is always a dream of the person you want to be or the life you want to live.

Payne Stewart (pro golfer) said shortly before he died in a plane crash, “the thing about dreams is sometimes you get to live them out.” I say bring um on and live them out because I suspect that people at the end of their life don’t think about work, career, cars, or money. I suspect they think about the dreams they had but never got around to pursuing them. KT