Looking Beyond our Rear-View Mirror

“It’s like trying to drive forward while only looking in the rear-view mirror! “

Looking Beyond our Rear-View Mirror

“It’s like trying to drive forward while only looking in the rear-view mirror! “

I have said those words, same verbiage, same sequence, same meaning, hundreds of times when I speak with client’s who I’m helping to establish a market value for their home or property.  Yet, on this particular day, a day of confirmation, a day when information I had already known deep within my core, was validated, they had a whole new meaning.

It’s easy to move into the unknown future relying wholly on our past experience.  But, my market value determination familiarity has steered me to take additional factors in to account.  I know, for example, that a market is always shifting.  It is never static. 

“The market is like the ocean.”  I explain to clients.  “If you’ve ever been on the ocean, the first thing you’ll notice is that it moves in great swells.  It’s always rolling up and down.  It rarely sits still.  What’s in the past can guide you as how a market can shift, but it doesn’t completely show you what the future holds.  It doesn’t even tell you the position of the market at this particular time.  You need to take additional information into account so you can catch a glimpse of the current market and where its future is trending.”

Now, I was reading the validating information, printed on the page in front of me again, with my mind firmly focused on past performance.  It was causing fear to well up in my heart.  The pain was almost unbearable, right up until the concepts of how to understand market value and how markets are always changing pierced my heart.  That’s the point at which I knew I needed to begin to apply the same principles to personal relationships, especially the one I was struggling with at this very moment.

Yes.  A person’s future can be extrapolated, in part, from past actions and decisions.  And no, that isn’t a whole, descriptive picture about any individual.  A person’s life is like the ocean.  As you live, the first thing you’ll notice is that life moves in great swells.  It’s always rolling up and down.  Living rarely sits still.  In fact, I noticed, when I lived on an island in the Caribbean Sea, that when the ocean was eerily still, it meant that a huge change was coming.  A hurricane or tsunami was soon to arrive with fierce winds and water movement, winds and or water that would morph water into destructive mountains and exploit all weakness.  What’s in your past, as well as the past of others, can guide you as to how one’s life may continue, but it doesn’t completely show you what one’s future holds.  It doesn’t even tell you the exact position in which a person is living today, at this particular time.  You need to take additional information into account for that.  Doing so will allow you and me to catch a glimpse of what life may be like, for us, and for others, our loved ones, and even strangers.  Being able to consider additional factors, such as personal effort, development of professional and interpersonal skills and loving influence must also be considered.  To do so is a skill and ability that will pay enormous dividends to everyone.

“It’s like trying to drive forward while only looking in the rear-view mirror!“  Were the familiar words piercing my heart as I continued to read.

I have said those words, same verbiage, same sequence, same meaning, hundreds of times when I speak with client’s who I help establish a market value for their home or property.  Yet, on this particular day, a day of confirmation, a day when information I had already known deep within my core, was validated, they had a whole new meaning.

They meant that I could lessen the overwhelming fear welling up in my heart.  They mean that if you and I will consider additional factors, beyond what we see in our rear-view mirrors, with regard to our personal relationships, we can help usher everyone toward a brighter future.