Satisfaction Realty Real Estate Blog

“Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.” ~Pema Chadron The hardest part of hearing the words, “I’m sorry, but you have cancer” at the age of thirty was knowing I had to tell my mother and my husband. Why? Not because I was afraid of their reaction, although it would be especially heightened since my father had died of cancer three years prior, but because I was going to take on a role I had never experienced before: a patient. For me, being a patient...

“The time to relax is when you don’t have time for it.” ~Sydney J. Harris No matter what airline you fly, there are safety instructions at the start of every flight that the flight crew goes over with everyone on the plane. The important ones are also listed out on a card or brochure located in the seat back pocket in front of you. Besides letting you know where the exits are, there is always some version of the following statement: “In the event of a change in cabin pressure, oxygen masks...

“Thoughts fuel emotions. If you don’t like what you’re feeling, step back and examine what you’re thinking. Pain is inevitable, but you’ll suffer a lot less if you disengage from your thoughts.” ~Lori Deschene The warm droplets from the shower are bouncing off my skin. I could be relishing in the warmth. I could be exhilarated by the cleansing power of this precious water. Instead, I am entranced by an argument. I’m animated and tense. Gesticulating wildly and frowning. In the shower. There’s...

“Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.” ~C.S. Lewis I was talking to a mentor of mine several months ago, and they cut me off midsentence and said, “Zach, it sounds like you’re trying to be extraordinary. How about you just work at being ordinary?” I paused then promptly broke into tears. Yep. Tears. Not ashamed to admit that. Tears because the meat of the conversation was about self-worth and being enough. In that moment my deepest childhood wound was tapped...

“Practice the pause. Pause before judging. Pause before assuming. Pause before accusing. Pause whenever you’re about to react harshly and you’ll avoid doing and saying things you’ll later regret.” ~Lori Deschene Ever feel like you are living a life of chaos? Are you feeling overwhelmed and frustrated over these crazy past two years? When difficult things happen or conflict arises, it can be hard to feel peace. Our primitive brain’s fight-or-flight system may sense fear,...

“I used to dislike being sensitive. I thought it made me weak. But take away that single trait, and you take away the very essence of who I am.” ~Caitlin Japa “You’re making people uncomfortable,” my mother would say. “Stop being so sensitive,” she would then quip. I have always been sensitive for as long as I can remember. Now I understand there’s a name for it: highly sensitive person (HSP). The scientific term is sensory processing sensitivity (SPS). As it turns out, 15-20 percent...

“The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.” ~William Arthur Ward I live in the windiest city in the world—Wellington, New Zealand. Perched between the North and South Island, this colorful little city gets hammered by wind. The winds from the south bring cold, and the winds from the northwest seem to blow forever. My body is regularly under assault. But amid all that blustering lies the answer to one of life’s great questions:...

“Forgiveness is giving up the hope that the past could have been any different.” ~Oprah Winfrey When I was a little girl, I made many wishes. At first, I believed all of my wishes would come true, just like in the fairy tales my mother read to me before bed. However, slowly but surely, life changed my attitude, stole my optimism, and I stopped wishing. My parents fought a lot, and their unhappiness made me believe that I was not good enough. Poverty replaced my birthday wishes with socks, the...

“I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil.” ~J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King Grief creeps up on you when you least expect it. It reminds you of the person you have lost when you’re out for coffee with friends, watching people hug their loved ones goodbye at the airport, and when you’re at home thinking about people you should call to check-in on. Even when you think that enough time has passed for you to be over it, grief pulls at your heartstrings. You...

“Lean into the discomfort of the work.” ~ Brené Brown Anxiety was the core of my existence for decades. When I look back at my life over that time, what comes to mind first is the constant tension in my chest, a knotted stomach, and a lump in my throat. From the outside, my life looked great. I was college-educated, had a good job, was in a relationship; I lived in a nice place, had a decent car, and enough money to buy organic food and a gym membership. But I was miserable. Not only was I anxious...