2020 - What the heck?
I started my blog on February 24, 2020. I had been thinking about writing one for about a year, but I wondered if I could come up with enough topics that would be meaningful and if anyone would even read it. Since that time, I have made unique weekly posts 43 times. Apparently, I have a lot to say as the topics and content have come easily. Some of it fueled by the pandemic, but many topics are just about business or having nothing to with either. I think even if no one read any of them, it has been a therapeutic way for me to think out loud particularly as I faced the challenge of starting a new business and dealing with the radical changes in our business environment. But a few loyal followers read them or at least liked them, so it was worth it. It has been a humbling experience. Everything I have learned and experienced throughout the years (good and bad) have sculpted me into what I am today and motivated me to share lessons and information that might help others.
As we look forward to a bright and shiny new year, I am pretty sure no one is sad to see this one go. The challenges and losses have been immense, but we humans find a way to figure it out and always move forward. I am particularly thankful this year for all of the people who rose to the occasion. While I understand the terrible toll the events of this year have taken on various groups, with lives and livelihoods upended, we have to make this a team effort. We have to support others however we can with open minds and open hearts.
WWII war hero, William Frederick Halsey, Jr., said, “There are no great people in this world, only great challenges which ordinary people rise to meet.” That pretty well sums up what we have witnessed this year. Regular people who have taken it upon themselves to not only rise up, but to sustain their selflessness for what would seem like an unsustainable period of time. They are exhausted, but they forge on. They are the people, who behind the scenes, with no acknowledgement or accolade, do what they have been called to do. What would the world be like without those people? I can’t even imagine.
I have also been inspired by the resiliency of the real estate industry. After a couple of months of paralysis, the industry not only rose to the occasion, but figured out how to do it safely for everyone involved. Buyer tastes changed on a daily basis as houses began to feel too small or too urban or too whatever. ‘Home’ has never been more important and its shortcomings were magnified as we spent more time there.
The real estate and relocation professionals were the ones to help seek out the solution for those that realized a remote work option might be permanent and actually allow for a lifestyle they had never dreamed of before. Traditional corporate relocations may have stalled, but it was replaced, for now, with people who sought out a change in their life which involved a different home maybe in a different city or state.
We still struggle in many markets with lack of inventory and cities with a high cost of living, but now that workers may not need to be in a daily commutable distance to their office, we may see the population disperse in such a way that it might relieve some of those challenges and the real estate and relocation pros will be right there to guide them.
As we ready ourselves for what 2021 may bring, hopefully we will tuck all that we have learned this year in our back pocket, and it will forever be with us. We are indelibly imprinted with the lessons from 2020 and we should use them to lead us into the future with a new perspective. As they say, hindsight is 20/20.
I wish you a new year that brings hope, health and happiness. Be good to one another and try and make it a point to thank someone who rose to the challenge of 2020 and continues the fight. Happy New Year!
“I think the more unexpected something is, the more there is to learn from it.” ~ Michael J. Fox, Actor and Philanthropist
