November 2024 Beachy Beach Love Note
Dear Beachy Beach,
What’s Love got to do with it?
EVERYTHING!!!
The question: “What’s Love Got to do with it?” It’s from a song and it popped into my head as I thought about what kind of love note I wanted to share with you. It’s November and that time of year that we think extra deeply about gratitude and things we are thankful for. Even if it is not our daily norm, we visit it this month and hopefully, many of us continue this life-changing practice of gratitude and love and forgiveness in life; and especially those of us in business.
I am convinced more than ever, that there are principles that are the difference makers in business. While I do think it is important to have systems and knowledge and skills, I believe deeply that soft skills will be the thing that takes me over the edge and leads me to a life that I want to live. There is a power much greater than me and you that orchestrates our lives.
Much of this note is likely a repeat, and the best things in life are. I know that these are the things that bring me more love and allow me to share more of it to a wanting world.
So here’s what’s on my mind:
I can not ever write about love without writing about forgiveness and the power that it wields to change EVERYTHING about my life. I know many of you have already heard this story but it is one that has impacted every facet of my business life.
In our business and I am sure in others as well we tend to get really focussed on what we are making and how hard we have worked for it. There have been times where it did not seem fair, and we felt cheated and robbed of what we think is ours. I know that happened to me one time and I need to briefly share it again to express how important I think this principle is if you are to be the success that you wish to be.
I had worked on a short sale and there is NOTHING short about a short sale. One more note, the deal was a referral to me by an agent that felt I was best for this job. So the day of closing arrived and at the very last few minutes the bank realized that one of the buyers was not an arms length transaction so the deal was squashed at the final hour. The deal was a 45,000 commission to me or would have been and it sure would have come in handy.
Some background information of why that would have been so lovely. This was after the 2008 sad, sad years in Real Estate and my husband Hugh and I had lost our home and all other properties. This 45,000 felt like a million to me and represented a chance to rebuild and even though I know the drill, I did count my chickens so to speak.
Without going into detail that is not really important, I will give you the facts that changed my life and perhaps yours if you are a member of this company that I love so dearly. The person who referred me decided that she could take over the deal and without telling me called the referral and put another deal together and salvaged the deal somehow. What she did not salvage was me. It was a different LLC so she did not include me.
I went home that day with a very sad heart and a pit in my stomach. I asked God to help me see what I needed to see and how to proceed. Because I had made the decision in my life to pre-forgive people because it brings me peace I let it go. Thankfully I was married to an amazing human who also believed strongly in the power of forgiveness and the realization that if I hung on to this as a resentment it would only hurt me.
What is NOT important in this story is why she took over the deal and her reasons behind it and I never knew and it does not matter. What matters greatly and is the most important is how I chose to respond to it. I decided that if I truly wanted to be a person that trusted God and believed that my destiny and future was not dependent on what other people decided to do it was solely dependent on my response to it.
I have always believed that my business grew because of that decision. That decision to love and to forgive and to move forward. No one other than Hugh knew her name and that does not matter. God opened up the flood gates of blessings for me and my family and has blessed my business more than I could ever ever imagine.
This part of my life convinced me that I wanted a company that was founded on love and kindness and compassion and pre-forgiveness.
To lighten up this message I want you to know about Bob Goff and how he practiced Pre-forgiveness for his family. When his kids were little he decided to think of the things that his kids might do and write a note and forgive them ahead of time. For example, he wrote a note to his daughter that read, “I forgive you for wrecking my car.” When she indeed wrecked his car he dug up the note and showed her that she was more important than a wrecked car.
I have certainly been on the sweet side of love and forgiveness and it has caused me to ask of Life: How can I serve? How can I make a difference? What can I let go of so that I may fill my life with what is truly important?
I am sure in the end as we live our lives, the things we thought so important pale to things of great importance and money and getting ahead is not at the top. What is at the top is people and kindness and doing the next right thing!!! The funny thing is that I end up getting all the important things and more when I realize that Love really does have EVERYTHING to do with it!!!!
Grateful beyond imagination!!!!
Karen Key Smith
