Satisfaction Realty Real Estate Blog

“The choice that frees or imprisons us is the choice of love or fear. Love liberates. Fear imprisons.” ~Gary Zukav I come from a family of runners. When I was a young girl, my father would rouse us out of bed on the weekends to run the three-mile par-course at the local park, competing with my siblings for who could do the most sit-ups at the stations along the route. We would end the event with a bunch of chocolate eclairs from the local 7-11 as a reward. As benign as this story may be, it describes...

I remember the first time it dawned on me that I was in an unhealthy relationship. Not just one that was difficult and annoying but one that could actually be described as “toxic.” It was at a training event for a sexual abuse charity I worked for. I immediately felt like a fraud! How could I be working there, helping other women get out of their unhealthy relationships and process their pain and trauma, but not realize how unhealthy my own relationship was? How did I not know? Typically, as...

“Put yourself at the top of your to-do list every single day and the rest will fall into place.” ~Unknown We live in a busy world. There is always something, or someone, fighting for our attention. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed. It’s easy to lose the time we need for ourselves. The white space in our days is often the first thing to get squeezed out as demands on our time escalate. To combat this pull to overwhelm, I decided to create a list of daily non-negotiables. Having a list...

“You wouldn’t worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do.” ~Eleanor Roosevelt It’s natural to think that we’re always in the spotlight. We think that people care about the way we dress, but they don’t. We think that people notice our nervous habits, when in reality, they’re worried about whether people are noticing their own. We tend to go through life as if our every move is being watched, judged, and evaluated on a moment-to-moment basis...

“If we can see past perceived limitations, then the possibilities are endless.” ~Amy Purdy Nature inspires me. There are hidden messages consistently on display. On my daily walks, I find myself interpreting these messages in relation to my life. One day, near the end of my walk, I was paying attention to the trees. A giant one caught my eye. Its magnificence was portrayed as morning sunlight peeked through the branches and bright green leaves. I noticed the enormity of its trunk, and then I...

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” ~Frederick Douglass In an eighteen-month window, I had a landslide of firsts that I would not wish on my worst enemy. I ended my first long-term relationship with someone I deeply cared for but did not love. She had borderline personality disorder, and I was not mentally strong enough nor mature enough to be what she needed in a partner. Within five minutes of me saying our relationship was over, she slit her wrist as we sat there in bed....

“I learned that courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” ~Nelson Mandela A few years ago, I attended what most people with social anxiety would call a nightmare event—a wedding. Although I was surrounded by familiar faces because it was my cousin’s wedding, I was also surrounded by dozens of people I didn’t know. It really was a tremendous weekend looking back. I got to enjoy a wonderful...

“Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become.” ~Steve Jobs I was a sensitive child growing up, and I felt everything deeply. Unfortunately, my childhood home was dominated by chronic tension, fear, and anger—not an ideal environment for anyone, let alone a perceptive and empathic child. My father was rather authoritative and controlling, and he disciplined us harshly. I was raised to obey without questioning and punished for mistakes...

“I would argue that nothing gives life more purpose than the realization that every moment of consciousness is a precious and fragile gift.” ~Steven Pinker He was splayed out in the middle of the road. The paramedics had yet to arrive. That was the scene on our way to meet some friends. Over dinner, they relayed the tragic story of their neighbor’s twenty-something son who was killed recently in a motorcycle accident. Two others lost their lives in an instant on a nearby suburban road. An...

“Just when the caterpillar thought her life was over, she became a butterfly.” ~Unknown Change is constant, from small changes like trying a new hobby to big changes like making a drastic career move. Even though change is all around us, it can feel scary. While change could lead you to something great, there are a lot of unknowns with something new, and that can cause anxiety. When I was younger, I used to embrace change. For example, each school year was a new and exciting experience. But somewhere...