“Promises to Keep”
By: Marty Rueter, Executive Vice President
“But at my back I always hear times winged chariot hurrying near. And yonder all before us lie deserts of vast eternity.”
~ Andrew Marvel, “To His Coy Mistress”
“The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep. And miles to go before I sleep. And miles to go before I sleep.”
~ Robert Frost, “Stopping by the Woods”
EVERY NEW YEAR’S EVE as that blazing Swarovski crystal drops from high atop New York’s Times Square, we tell ourselves that this upcoming new year will be the year. This year we will lose weight, quit that bad habit, win a sales trophy, find someone special, take a vacation, post a 79 at Pebble Beach, finish that long overdue project. This year we will finally find true happiness, security, contentment… our Holy Grail!
WHY DO WE DO THIS? Back ourselves in corners? Even as children we were encouraged to make New Year’s resolutions, but no reasoning why we should make them, And why only now as the old year passes? Why not Leap Year or April 16th after paying our taxes? Humankind, I believe, craves challenge, something new or better to work towards. Indolence is not in our DNA. We all want “something to do.” New Years is a logical time for recommitment, for setting new directions, new “promises to keep” … even if we don’t keep them.
AS WE LOOK BACK on 2017, it was much like every year – “the best and worst of times” … a mix of happiness, regret, high points and low points… craziness interspersed with moments of serenity and sensibility. Fortunately, our business (commercial real estate) is still climbing. The economic pulse in Georgia (and most elsewhere) is gaining intensity and rapidity. Jobs, stocks, rents and prices continue to gain momentum. Could this be another “Morning in America?” I believe it is, if we so decide.
A NEW YEAR provides a fresh start, a pause between holiday’s end and “normal life” restarting its trudging pace – a good time to reflect on what really matters and what does not.
- What aspects of your life are worth changing your life for – with the angst and awkwardness that accompany all meaningful change?
- What aspects need to find a dumpster before you can continue on life’s journey unfettered?
Many people approach business and life myopically, squinting no further than next weekend, versus assuming a long-term view and desire of creating a legacy. Fortunately, at Metro Brokers you don’t have to set goals and reach them alone. We’re here for you. Ready and resourced!
Success is a choice. So is being an excuse maker. If you really want to make the coming year your year, to have a business worth owning, a career worth having, make your resolutions wisely, including a follow-up resolution to keep them. “Time’s winged chariot,” after all, is “hurrying near.”
“Now let us sport us while we may. And … like amorous birds of prey, rather at once our time devour. Let us roll all our strength… and sweetness, up into one ball, and tear our pleasures with rough strife through the iron gates of life. Thus, though we cannot make our sun stand still, yet we will make him run.”
~ Andrew Marvel