We often hear of an athlete gaining a second wind toward the final leg of the run or the final moments of a game. Re-charging our energies, renewing our efforts, and going flat out at the end is best described as second wind.
I am fascinated by what contributes to an excellent quality of life in the last quarter of our lives. I’ve watched people who, despite wrinkles, aches, and pains, have a marked joy in their lives. Having this joy is comparable to getting our second wind. It gives us the energy to make this last leg of our journey the best time of our life.
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Grocery Shopping Reveals the New You
This time of year everyone seems to spend an awful lot of time grocery shopping. Lines are longer; patience is shorter. My advice is that you need to know what to look for to make it interesting. I guarantee that once you read this, grocery shopping will never be the same for you again. I think that these behaviors tell us so much about ourselves and our neighbors.
What do the following behaviors say about. . .
The shopper who always returns his shopping cart (here, it's also called a buggy) to the designated space in the parking lot? Or the one who leaves it in a parking space for someone else to move -- or run into?
The person who shops with a list, crossing items off as she goes? Or the one who plans menus while in the grocery store and attempts to recall what's needed by mumbling aloud as she travels down each aisle?
The person who strolls through the store as if he had all the time in the world? Or the shopper who races through the store like he's a SWAT team member, or like he's on Supermarket Sweep?
The person who nonchalantly enters the 15-items-or-less line with a loaded cart? Or the shopper who pretends not to see the person with one gallon of ice cream standing in line behind him and his full cart?
Happy Thanksgiving!
Allyn
Allyn T. Heck
Three Rivers Realty
Southport, NC
More Than Shelter
Today, Peter and I prepared and delivered lunch to a Habitat for Humanity crew building two homes in Sunset Harbor. We found eighteen people of varying ages and skill levels laboring to produce these homes for two families.
Volunteerism is part of what helps make a town a community. It not only connects us to each other; it also provides a sense of belonging and responsibility to the place we call home.
When newcomers and natives join forces to help make Brunswick County a better place to live, everyone wins.
Thanks for listening,
Allyn
Three Rivers Realty
Southport, NC
Successful Relocation Strategy.
I do believe that there’s a formula for making a house a home and for making a town yours. Once settled in their new home/town/state, residents who have moved from the familiarity of communities where they’ve raised families, shopped in local markets, and knew where to go for the best of everything suddenly find themselves in a whole new world, surrounded by multiple choices and very few answers.
If you look around, you’ll see that successful coastal transplants immerse themselves in a community by volunteering and becoming active and informed citizens. No better example of that than the turnout today in our local election.
Today, I voted in an “off-year” election. There was no room in the parking lot left for me to park and a line with 16 voters in front of me. A perfect example of how we make a place our own.
Stepford Homes Need Not Apply
Remember the movie Stepford Wives? All of the women in the film were cookie cutter versions of an idealized wife. This past week, I had a most interesting conversation with a homeowner who wondered if sellers should de-personalize their homes to take out the personality. Creating a blank canvas for prospective buyers to picture their families and possessions in the space. . . Stepford Homes.
Last week I was working with buyers who dismissed one home that just was too boring, a home with no charm or personality.
Isn’t that a fine line that sellers walk in an attempt to attract buyers with the staging of their home? Balance. It’s always the answer.
Thanks for listening!
Allyn Heck
Three Rivers Realty
Southport, NC
