Hope Leitner, Realtor®, CRS

A wise old man told a joke to a group of friends. Everyone laughed. After a moment, he told the same joke again. This time, only a few people laughed. He repeated the same joke over and over again. When there was no more laughter, he asked, “You can’t laugh at the same joke over and over again, but why do you keep crying over the same things over and over again?” When no one could answer, the old man explained: “When we hear a funny joke, laughter grabs a hold of us and moves through us. After we laugh, the novelty of the joke wears off and we automatically let go and move on. When faced with life’s sorrows and upsets, most of us do the exact opposite. We tend to hold on to the negativity – experiencing the same upsets over and over again. The secret to a happy life is learning to experience your tears like laughter. Let your upsets move through you freely, and then let go and move on. 

The production of tears in continuous. People create tears to lubricate and protect the eyes. Tears flush the eyes of debris and microorganisms. They also deliver oxygen and nutrients to the eye the same way blood does for the rest of the body. Humans are the only animals that seem to cry for emotional reasons, although there are reports of elephants shedding tears in grief. 

Not long ago I heard a story on the news that more young people are renting apartments or staying at their parent’s home longer than ever before. What that tells me is young people may be forcing themselves to become long-term tenants. At the same time, high demand and competition cause rent prices to soar, while a mortgage stays predictable and constant. Competing with other renters to pay off someone else’s mortgage is not what we want for our friends and family. So the next time you’re in a conversation with a friend, family member or neighbor and they tell you they feel like they’re wasting money on rent, take out your cell phone, look up my number (858) 382-2763 and call or text me immediately. I belong to a national network of real estate agents and consultants and I can help make their dreams of owning their first home a reality.